Retribution
by SunnseanicArts
Summary: Prequel to "Salvation" - Murphy and Connor have just managed to get out of prison when a strange virus, that turns everyone into walking dead monsters, hits Boston. With the city put under quarantine, all they can do is run for the last boats that are leaving town. But to get there they have to make their way through the city of the undead first...violence, character death
1. Apprehension

Here we go! Another Walking Saints fic. Right from the off: the only thing that's from the Walking Dead is the walker invasion.  
Pretty much every chapter except for the last couple of chaps will take place in Boston. We'll be following the boys (and some other characters) to a possible evacuation center, meaning they won't stay in one place for too long either. The first couple of chapters might seem odd, it's taken me some time to get back into the whole Walking Saints thing after all and writing crossovers is a hard thing to do. This story is part of a Walking Saints trilogy, but you can read each individual story as a standalone if you like. The one that follows this little fic here is called "Salvation" and I wrote it back in February 2012. Salvy includes the other Walking Dead characters as it is based on a Connor-Daryl dynamic, but I felt like I needed to explain what happened to Murphy, which is why I am writing this story here now. Punchline:

**What this story is:** Connor and Murphy try to escape walker infested Boston, It's Boondock heavy (concentrating on BDS characters/relationship) Part I of a Trilogy  
**What this story isn't**: something that you need to read in order to understand my other fic, something that forces you to read the other fic, a story about the Conphy meeting Walking Dead characters (once again, this is happening in part II), a story that includes many original characters (it's about Connor and Murphy)

**couple of notes:**  
- I am German, so my English+accents= not perfect  
- there are some mistakes because I still have some grammar issues but I think you can read it nevertheless. (and I'm constantly trying to improve that)  
- I do know that some stuff might be out of character and pointless but like I said, I ain't perfect. It's how I interpret the characters.  
- I'm not from Boston (obviously) and I've never been there. So if there's any inaccurate descriptions and stuff that's just wrong then I'm sorry. I'm trying my best.  
I work with Google Earth and Wikipedia, so you get the picture.

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 1 - Apprehension

* * *

Murphy had expected their life to be way more exciting by now.  
They were out of prison, they were free, so they were supposed to party and enjoy their freedom, right? Oh how much he wanted that to be true.  
Reality, however, was different. They weren't allowed to go outside, they weren't allowed to call anyone, they were supposed to be invisible.  
They didn't even know how Smecker, Eunice, Dolly and Duffy had managed to get them out of prison _and _away from the Hoag, but here they were,  
hiding in a fairly big apartment in Fenway. It had been Eunice's idea to bring them there, simply because it was absolutely _impossible_  
to get out of the city at the moment. For one because their jailbreak had been all over the news and police were searching _everywhere,  
_and also because the city was practically under lockdown.

About a week ago some new sort of virus had caused the officials to put three of south Boston's districts under quarantine,  
and judging from the news reports it wasn't getting any better. The younger MacManus was worried. Eunice and Smecker had assured them  
that the building was a safe and good place to hide since the police didn't suspect them of hiding in such a nice neighborhood.  
Their apartment was on the top floor and at the very end of the block that covered the entire south side of Park Drive, and when they looked out  
of the kitchen window they could see Boston's museum of fine arts. They still had no clue who was paying for the whole thing and how,  
but they were given food, mobile phones and even a laptop to make their stay as comfortable and easy as possible.

Since it was impossible and too dangerous for both Eunice and Smecker to come and visit them, an anonymous stranger had escorted them  
and explained all the details, how to use their phones and laptop to get in contact with the FBI agents, what to do and what not do to.  
Which basically meant staying in doors 24/7.

Apart from the whole lockdown Connor felt like he was in heaven.  
He had hated the Hoag, all the people in there, the cells, the fences, everything. Not to forget about the constant fear of losing Murphy in a fight.  
As soon as they first entered their new temporary home the older MacManus had started to cheer and giggle with excitement.  
" Real fuckin beds Murph! And look at tha, a real fuckin couch! And holy shit is that a tv and dvd player?"  
He had checked the entire dvd collection only to complain that it was shitty and didn't include any good movies, then he had sat down in front  
of the small table by the window where a laptop was just waiting to be used. "How the fuck do you work those things Murph?"

Murphy couldn't share his enthusiasm though. Of course, he was glad to be out of prison, but there was too much shit going through his head.  
He wondered whose apartment it was and if the person was trust worthy. He wondered who their neighbors were and if they knew about them.  
And most of all: he wondered how they were supposed to work when they weren't allowed to go outside.

For him it just felt like they had moved them from one prison to the next. The younger MacManus knew that it was the right thing to do,  
hide and wait for people to calm down until they could leave the city, but after waiting over two weeks he felt like the walls were crushing them to death.

It was day number 18 when Duffy came to visit them with groceries, cigarettes and booze. Both MacManus twins cheered happily.  
After getting into three fights on the same day and being utterly sick of each other they appreciated to see a new face and hear an other voice.

"Finally, bout time ye bring us smokes, we're almost out cos Connor won't ever fuckin stop."  
Murphy grabbed the plastic bag which was full of cigarette packs and grinned. His twin just glared at him and frowned.

"Fuck you, yer the one smoking like a fuckin chimney" he countered, took the bottle of whiskey from Duffy and turned around to head back to the couch.  
Murphy opened the kitchen window and sat down right next to his brother. Both twins finally looked at the detective, who looked more tired and disheveled than ever.  
And there was something about his eyes...he just didn't look good.

"So then Duff, how's things? When can we get the fuck outta here?"

Duffy sat down on the armchair next to Connor and sighed.

"Boys, I gotta be honest with you. I think it'll take a while t'arrange things. Yah seen the news?"

Murphy nodded and scratched his right arm, the one with the cross.  
"Aye, what the fuck is going on? Looks a bit hush hush if ye ask me."

Connor snorted.  
"Aye, Murph's being a baby about it. Paranoid and all, thinks it's a fuckin conspiracy or some shit."

Murphy growled and shoved him.  
"Just look at the fuckin news, there's gotta be some seriously fucked up shit and it's all over the internet, 've seen videos..."

Connor rolled his eyes and sighed. "Here we go...you and yer fuckin videos."

"Says the asshole who's always obsessing over Charles Bronson and yer stupid fuckin rope! 't least 'm interested in real useful shit!"  
They both were just about get into another fist fight when Duffy interrupted them.

"Boys!" he shouted and they both looked at him, with hands still buried in each other's t-shirt. The detective growled and massaged his temples.

"I've been having the worst kinda headaches for the past hours and yah screaming ain't helpin. I've been working my ass off for 32 hours straight."

The twins fell quiet and let go of each other. Then Murphy noticed the bandage on his arm.  
"What happened ta yer hand?"

Duffy looked up to see where the younger MacManus was pointing, then he looked at the bandage on his left hand.

"I was helping out in Dorchester, riots getting worse and worse there cos of the lockdown. The thing was really spinning out of control and  
I was fuckin over-worked anyway, but then some stinking asshole ran right at me and bit me. Fucker. Hurts like crazy."

Murphy frowned.  
"He _bit _ye?"

Connor snorted.  
"There you go, fuckin conspiracy. I bet someone's trying to get our dear Duffy outta his office fer stealing too many pencils."

"Fuck ye Connor!" Murphy spat and glared at his twin.

Duffy sighed and leaned back. He looked very pale in the dim light and something about him made Murphy feel uncomfortable.

"Maybe you should rest fer a bit, ye look like shite."  
Connor , who finally seemed to get that this whole thing wasn't a joke, suggest and got up.

"You want me to get you a glass af water? Beer? Whiskey?"

Duffy shook his head and put a hand on his forehead.

"Nah, I don't think so. You're right. I just need a break. Sleep a couple of hours. You boys ok, need anything else?" he asked and got up slowly.  
When Murphy saw how weak he was on his knees, he rushed to help his friend. The older MacManus frowned.

"No, we're fine, but how about ye? Really though, ye don't look good."

Duffy shook his head and headed for the door.  
"'s all right boys. Just gotta lie low. You need anything you call the number..yah know which one."

The twins went after him and looked at each other. Murphy raised an eyebrow and Connor nodded.

"Maybe ye should stay here fer the night? Murph'n I can sleep on the couch if ye want."

The detective just waved it off and opened the door.

"Nah boys, we can't risk that. Now..."  
He turned around and smiled at them. Then he put a hand on Connor's shoulder and patted it.

"'t was nice seeing yah again."  
Both twins nodded but looked worried.

"Aye." they said quietly and frowned when the expression on Duffy's face changed.

"Don't put your guns away boys. I'm telling you Connor, Murphy might be right about the whole thing. Haven't heard a word from Eunice and Smecker yet,  
but I let 'em know about the South. Headquarters ain't telling us anything, no one seems t'know what's going on. I'll let yah know when I find out more."

The three men just looked at each other for a moment, then Duffy smiled again and saluted them.

"Boys."

"Duff."

The detective turned around and went down the stairs. Before Murphy closed the door behind them he could hear Duffy cough.

"'m telling ye, there's something wrong with 'im. Wrong with the whole riot shite."

Connor just looked at his twin, hands on hips and chewing on his bottom lip. Much to Murphy's surprise his older half wouldn't tease him again,  
he just turned around and went back to the living room.

* * *

Connor was tossing and turning in his bed.  
For the past couple of nights he had dreamt the most horrible things, and this night wasn't different. He dreamed that the fens in front of their  
apartment building were filled with blood. He dream of children crying and thousands of people running and screaming.  
He saw the skyline of Boston disappearing behind a big cloud of smoke and fire. And then he had the _other_ dream.  
The dream that was slowly driving him insane. Two months ago he had first dreamt about Murphy dying. Well, that was a lie.  
He had dreamt about that more than once in his life, since this was his greatest fear. But no. This was a different sort of dream.  
Because he was having it almost every. single. night.

The same things. The same room. The same setting. The same words. He dreamt that Murphy was trying to kill him.  
The dream ended with _him_ killing his younger brother. It was always the same. Murphy coming, Murphy running, Murphy growling  
and trying to wrap his hands around his neck and squeeze and choke. Connor dreamt about stumbling and walking backwards, asking, _begging_ him to stop.  
But Murphy wouldn't listen. _Please stop. Why would you do this? Murphy! BANG._  
A clean headshot, smoke from his gun, his younger half lying dead on the floor.  
BANG. gushes of blood, and a loud gasp.

Connor startled awake and screamed. It took him a while to calm down again. His heart was racing, and he was sweating heavily.  
His boxers were sticking to his legs and behind, and for a moment he thought he was going to die from a heart attack.  
The older MacManus turned his head to search the room for his twin, but the spot next to him was empty.  
Connor gulped and rubbed his eyes tiredly. _Just a dream. Just a fuckin dream._

He remembered a wave of blood rushing towards him, his twin's cold dead eyes and him lying on the floor. Blood dropping from his hands.  
The older MacManus sighed, buried his face in his hands and shook his head. Now he remembered where the _fuck_ he had gotten these images from.  
He and Murphy had been watching _the Shining _before going to bed.

It wasn't like him to be scared because of a stupid movie, and when he got up he reminded himself that he wasn't scared because of the movie,  
but because of the idea of Murphy dying. Even worse. Him _killing _Murphy.

He left the room and entered the bathroom to relieve himself and wash his face. When he looked in the mirror he saw that he looked _terrible._

_Af course ye look terrible, what do ye think you would look like after you killed yer brother, like a fuckin princess?_

He shook his head and decided that it was time to get a drink. The Irishman switched the light off and entered the living room only to get another heart attack.  
Murphy was standing there by the window, with a cigarette in his hand and watching something outside with a frown.

"Are ye fuckin crazy, I almost shat my pants because af you creep standing there."  
Connor complained, but Murphy ignored him. The older MacManus grabbed the bottle of whiskey that was standing on the table and approached his twin.

"The fuck are you looking at?" he asked and looked over his twin's shoulder.

He saw a woman in her nightie staggering down the road that let to the tennis field. Connor snorted.

"My god's she drunk."

Murphy shook his head.  
"Been watching her fer almost half an hour now Conn."

Connor started laughing.  
"There ye go, you little pervert you."

Murphy turned his head and glared at his brother who wouldn't stop giggling. He was trying to hold it back but had no luck.  
His younger half looked at the staggering woman again who stumbled after a cat that was hastily crossing the street.  
They could hear her growling, which made Connor frown.

"What the fuck?"

"She came down the park, then I kinda lost her, I was just takin a piss and when I returned she was just fuckin standing there, staring at nothin."  
Murphy murmured and shifted from one foot to the other. Connor bit his lip and shrugged.

"Maybe she's a crack whore or some shit like tha. See more and more af that lot these days."

A loud bang somewhere down the road startled them and made the woman turn around. They could hear sirens all over the city.

"Weird shit man." Connor murmured and turned around again to head for the kitchen. Murphy frowned.

"Shouldn' we...like, go down and help her?"

Connor shook his head.  
"Ye know we can't go outside."

"Then maybe we should call te police or something?"  
Murphy suggested and looked at the staggering woman again. Connor shook his head once more and snorted.

"Aye Murph, let's call the police and tell them "oh and by the way, heard yer lookin fer us, wanna take us with you, now that yer on it?"

The dark haired twin glared at his brother and growled.  
"Why do you have ta be such a fuckin dick these days?"

Connor turned around and looked at him.  
"What?"

"Fer weeks you've been treating me like shit, making fun af me like I'm yer stupid girlfriend or some crap."

The older snorted and frowned.  
"'m just makin fun af you, that's what brothers do Murph."

He sat down on the couch and took a sip of his whiskey.

"This ain't fun anymore Connor. 'm _tellin _ye there's something fuckin wrong here!"

The blonde just looked at his younger half for a while and for the first time he realized how much older Murphy looked.  
For some reason, whenever he thought about his brother he had that certain image of him in his head, so young and childish.  
Perhaps the whole pretending and acting like he was the older one was getting to his head. His brother was right. He wasn't a child anymore.  
_They_ weren't children anymore. And judging by all the crap that had happened to them with almost everyone either dying or falling to shit because of them,  
it sure as hell wasn't fun anymore.

"Did ye have any weird dreams?" Connor asked quietly and Murphy frowned.

"What?"

His older half shrugged and scratched his chin.  
"I was just assuming that, since we were havin the same dream with god and Roc..that maybe you did dream about some weird shit, too? Again?"

Murphy came closer and folded his arms.  
"Blood?" he asked quietly and Connor nodded.

"Blood, fire, screams, chaos, me killing ye..."

The younger raised an eyebrow.  
"You killing me?"

Connor nodded and looked away.  
"Aye. Just woke up fram it again" he admitted and Murphy sighed.

"'s all right Conn. 'm here."

The older looked up and smiled after a moment of just looking at his brother. "Aye."

"Ain't going anywhere. You'll have to kill me first" Murphy went on and smirked. Connor frowned.

"Nat funny."

The younger Irishman turned around to look out of the window again.

"But looks like the chick's gone."

"What?" Connor asked and got up. He and his brother searched the street for a bit, but the mysterious woman was gone.


	2. Jerry's

New chapter! This fic is so much fun to write! And oh christ. I just realized that all my "_them_" makes that chapter sound like fucking 50 shades of grey! :D

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter Two - Jerry's

* * *

"'m so fuckin hungry Con."

The last time someone had brought them food had been over a week ago. Connor was sitting in front of their laptop, still trying to figure it out because he didn't have  
a clue how those things worked, and the fact that Murphy was reminding him of the obvious every freaking day didn't exactly help either.  
He grabbed their mobile phone, which was lying next to his hand on the table, and looked at it. Still no signal. Still no message, still no missed calls.

"I know, but none af those fuckers are answering, and I can't get a fuckin signal since yesterday morning."

Murphy was pacing up and down the room, with a cigarette in his mouth and looking out of the window every once in a while.

"They're still out there. Why the fuck isn't the police coming? Or the ambulance? We gotta go out there Conn. Get food, fuckin help people, we just gotta do _something_!"

"They" were about seven wounded people staggering up and down Park Drive. Some of them had bite wounds all over their bodies, others had broken feet  
that they were using nevertheless, dragging them after them and making the most horrible noises. The older MacManus turned around and glared at his brother.

"I fuckin know that we gotta do something! The fuck ye think 'm doing here, 'm trying to see if someone on the internet knows something!"

"We ain't any use if we're just sitting here on our asses waiting fer some shit to happen, or someone to come. We gotta go _out there _and do something!  
That's what we do! fucking sort shit out!"

Connor got up and slammed the laptop shut. The connection had died once again.

"Don't ye hear the fuckin sirens everywhere Murph? We just gotta cross the road and we're running inta a cop or some shit, do you wanna end up back in prison?  
We ain't of any use if we sit on our asses in there! Same fuckin thing!"

Murphy shoved him.

"Are you such a fuckin retard? Open yer eyes Conn, we're the least af their problems right now!"

Connor growled and walked past his brother to look out of the window. He saw smoke coming from the city center, and a couple of injured people wandering around aimlessly.  
There were other people as well. People that didn't look injured or so fucking psychotic, with small plastic bags or bigger bags in their arms and quickly passing the others  
without helping them. The sick ones reached out for them and tried to go after them, but they stood no chance once the others started running.

Connor ruffled his hair and bit his lower lip nervously, then he walked to the other side of the room to look out of the window that faced Jersey street, where a small shop  
was located on the other side. There weren't that many psychos running around, so they actually stood a chance. He turned around to look at his twin who  
looked pissed and a bit nervous. For a moment they just looked at each other, then Connor looked at all the empty bottles and cans of food and decided  
that his brother was right. He sighed and nodded.

"Ok, here's the plan. We go down to Jerry's, grab a few things and get the fuck back up here. We ask one af those fuckers if they need our help and see how they react,  
but as soon as shit hits the van we go right back up here. Grab yer knife just in case, I get the money."

He left the living room to get his coat, wallet, money and knife, then he put his boots on and looked out of the window once more. He could see that all the wounded people  
outside were walking away, heading somewhere down the road with wide eyes. The most terrible thing about it all was the noise they were making, growling and snarling  
like animals. A virus. He had read about it on the internet somewhere. A virus that they transmitted through bites, which explained all their wounds. He still didn't know  
what to believe, whether this was right or not, all he knew was that it was fucking creepy and he sure as hell didn't want to get bit by filthy animalistic psychos.  
He tried not to think about Duffy. He had been bitten after all. _No, he's okay. There's no way he's... _He didn't want to finish the thought.

Murphy was waiting for him in the hallway and when Connor placed a hand on the door handle he was suddenly well aware that this was different now.  
For the past couple of days they had felt like they were living in some sort of bubble, nonexistent in this crazy new world. Invisible, just like they had been told.  
Stepping out of that apartment now made things real again.

"Ready?" he asked quietly and looked at Murphy who nodded. Then, with a determined push he opened the door and stepped outside.

* * *

It was worse than they had thought. Now that they were outside they could hear a strange humming, groaning and murmuring coming from all over the streets surrounding  
them, underlined by the never-ending sound of sirens. Connor and Murphy started running. First of all because they didn't want to be seen, and second of all because  
they saw a woman lying a couple of meters down the road. Right in front of the shop.

"Fuck Conn, look at her legs!" Murphy said and pointed at her.

Her legs were crushed and when they came closer they saw the skid marks.

"Looks like someone run her over" the older MacManus murmured and knelt down next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and Murphy knelt down as well.

" Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with people? Can ye hear me? We're hear to help you! Murph, you got a mobile with ye?"

"You know it's fuckin dead!"

The younger shrieked in surprise when the woman grabbed him by his leg and looked up. She was growling and snarling, and when she lifted her head up  
Murphy saw that her nose and upper lip were missing.

"Holy shit!" he yelled and he tried to get away from her. He stumbled and fall back down on his ass.  
The woman grabbed his foot and tried to bite him, so Murphy started kicking and yelling at her.

"Get her off me Conn! Bitch, get yer fuckin mits off me!"

"Let 'im go! Don't let her bite ye!" Connor yelled and grabbed the woman by her shoulders to get her away from his twin.

"Connor! Get the fuckin knife!"

"I can't just stab the woman!"

After a couple of minutes of wrestling with the wounded person the older MacManus finally managed to get her off Murphy and shoved her away.  
His twin brother crawled away from her and grabbed his leg to check on it. A second later Connor was on him and yanked his trouser leg up.

"Did she bite ye?"

"What the _fuck_ was that?"

"Murph, did she fuckin bite you?" Connor asked once more and looked at his twin in horror.  
Murphy shook his head and looked at the woman who was lying on the road.

"No, I don't think she did, 'm clean. Conn, what the fuck was that?"

The blonde offered him a hand and helped him up, then they looked at the woman who was lying to their feet. Suddenly she started moving and growling again,  
and when she looked at them the twins saw that her eyes were different as well. She tried to grab them by their feet, but the brothers backed off to stay out of her reach.

"What's wrong with her face?" Murphy asked and Connor just looked at the woman.

"Can ye understand us? We're just trying to fuckin help you, woman!" the older tried to reason with her but she showed no reaction. She just kept crawling and growling.

"I don't think she can understand us Conn. Just look at her face man."

Suddenly the woman stopped and shifted all her weight on her arms. It looked like she was trying to get up, and when she lifted her upper body up the twins saw  
that some of her inner organs were sticking out of a hole in her belly.

"Oh my fuckin god!" Murphy exclaimed and started to retch, but since they hadn't eaten anything in two days, nothing would come out.  
Connor pulled a face and covered his mouth with the back of his hand and shook his head. "That is disgusting."

The woman was unable to get up because of her crushed legs, but somehow it looked like she didn't care about the pain. Neither did it look like she actually understood  
what was happening. Connor remembered all the things he had been reading on the internet the last couple of days: DEAD MEN WALKING, THE END IS NEAR, VIRUS,  
INFECTION, BITES, IMPOSSIBLE, THE WRATH OF GOD, JUDGEMENT DAY. Dead men walking. He swallowed hard. He knew it was impossible for that woman to be alive.  
He knew what it _meant_. Everything was _true_.

"Let's go" he said and started walking. Murphy just stood there and watched the woman, then he looked at his brother's back.

"We can't just fuckin leave her Conn! There's gotta be something we can do fer her!"

Connor just kept walking. He did not want to cope with this, did not want to think about it. What were they supposed to do anyway?  
They didn't have any medical supplies with them, their phones weren't working, that woman was trying to fucking _bite _them, her guts were hanging out of her freaking body,  
they were freaking hungry, everything was going to shit. He could see more of _them_ down the street, and it looked like Murphy's yelling was getting them interested in them,  
because they turned around and staggered in their direction.

"We gotta get something ta eat and get the fuck back up there" Connor said and glared at his twin.

Murphy looked at the woman, then he saw the group down the street, then he looked back at his brother again. Never in his life had he felt so helpless, so confused.  
They were _the Saints_, they were tough fuckers, so how come he didn't feel so tough right now? _Because this is something ye've never seen before. This shit is different.  
_They knew that there was something wrong here. Something big. Something global. And for the first time in their lives they felt helpless because this was _too _big.  
The younger twin rushed after his brother, and together they entered the battered shop.

* * *

There was glass lying everywhere. Two of the shop windows had been destroyed, and they could see blood on the ground. There was no cashier by the checkout  
and when they entered the small shop they couldn't see any customers either. The whole building was _empty_.

"The fuck is everyone?" Connor asked and grabbed a couple of cigarette packs. Murphy was busy getting food from the other side.

"Maybe they were evacuating people and we missed the announcement?" the younger twin suggested, but Connor shook his head with a snort.

"We were watching tv every fuckin day. Fer hours. And we've been reading shit on the internet. Believe me, if they decided to evacuate the city, we'd know."

He headed for the small beverage section. The blonde Irishman just looked at the bottles and cans for a while, considering what they should take, then he sighed and  
grabbed a couple of water bottles. His instincts told him to go back to basics somehow. Because if shit was really spiralling out of control and Boston's infrastructure  
really stopped working, then running out of booze would be the least of their problems. He was just about to head back when he saw a bottle of whiskey standing there,  
and after chewing on his lower lip and looking outside he decided that one small bottle wouldn't do them any bad either. He found Murphy with three bags of chips and  
two pizzas in his hand and snorted.

"As much as I adore yer taste, gotta think ahead this time, Murph." the blonde said and pointed at the canned food section.  
His younger half raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Connor grabbed a couple of canned beans and pasta and nodded.

"Aye, something's telling me that we gotta stock up fer a bit til shit gets sorted out. Call it a hunch. Besides, they're doing that in all them disaster movies all the time."

Murphy snorted. "Is that one af yer stupid plans again?"

"Ye just saw what it's like out here Murph" the older murmured and filled another bag with food and water bottles. His twin frowned.

"Connor we can't afford that much shit."

"I brought all the money we have Murph. They gave us some. Fer emergencies. Looks like that's an emergency, man. You said so yerself, we're fuckin hungry."

Murphy just watched him for a moment. "This isn't a fuckin movie" he murmured, then he helped his brother.

* * *

Connor didn't want to spent too much time outside, so they got all the stuff they needed as quickly as they could. Quite some stuff had been taken already, and  
they saw that most of the electronics were gone. They checked the small storeroom to see if the shop owner or anyone was there, but they were all alone.

"The fuck should we do? We can't just take that stuff, that'd be stealing." Murphy said once they were done and standing by the checkout.  
Connor turned around to search the shop again, but they were all by themselves. He shrugged, got his wallet out and put two 20$ notes on the counter.

"We paid fer it."

Murphy snorted. "Next asshole that comes in here fuckin steals it and it's gone."

His brother nodded.

"Aye, but our conscience is clear cos _we_ payed fer it" he said with a smirk and widened his eyes when he saw someone passing the shop.  
He grabbed his twin by his shoulders and pulled him down with him.

"Get down!" he whispered and hid behind the counter.

They watched the figure walk by, and it didn't take them long to realize that it was another one of _them_. They kept quiet until it looked like he was gone,  
and when Connor looked at Murphy he saw that his twin was fiddling about with something next to the counter.

"The fuck are ye doing?" Connor whispered and his twin started grinning.

"Found this" he said and showed the blonde a machete. It was bloodstained but apart from that it looked intact and in good shape.

Connor raised an eyebrow. "'n what are ye planning on doing with that? Go ninja on them? We can't just fuckin kill people here!"

Murphy raised an eyebrow as well. "The fuck? As if we never killed people before.."

"We killed bad people, those people aren't bad, they're fuckin sick or some shit like that."

"Still, can't do us any harm Connor."

The older twin rolled his eyes and turned around again to look outside.

"Alright. Get yer bigass rambo knife. Let's move."


	3. Knock Knock

**Retribution**

Chapter Three - Knock Knock

* * *

Three days after "they" had arrived, communication broke down completely.  
Their phones had long since stopped working, pretty much since the day they had left their apartment for the first time to get food. Television was up next. They could see  
them stop working, channel by channel until there was nothing but tv snow. The last reports that had been shown had informed them about outbreaks in Europe.  
Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow. It was chaos. There hadn't been a single official statement from the government. They had no clue _what_ it was and now that their phones,  
tv and internet had stopped working they were left in the dark. Some had called it the end of days, others a simple infection like the flu or worse, the black death  
of modern age.

There had been talk about the French working on a cure, but then everything was gone. No information, no explanation, no nothing. The last news channel had just  
stopped working when Connor had enough. He kicked the table and got up. Murphy was still sitting on the couch and chewed on his fingernails.

"Ye cannot tell me that there's no fucking cure, there's gotta be a way." Connor growled and started walking up and down the room.  
There weren't so many of _them_ out there anymore, so how could they talk about things getting worse?

"Well you saw the pictures, it's fucking chaos. Everywhere. Maybe we should..I dunno, go somewhere. There's gotta be some place we can go."

"Aye af course Murphy, we're wanted murderers, everyone knows our fucking faces here in Boston, but 'm sure they're gonna welcome us  
with open arms and offer us a fuckin hot bean soup."

"Fuck ye" the younger twin just murmured because he was getting tired of his brother's dickish behaviour.  
He just watched him roaming through their apartment for a bit, then he sighed and grabbed a cigarette.

"Yer the one always fuckin planning things, so shoot. How do we get outta here Conn."

The blonde glared at him.  
"Why do I have ta make all the plans all te time? Yer just waiting t'complain about every fucking thing 'm sayin."

Murphy growled.

"Oh fuck ye, my plan was ta go some place safe, a fuckin refugee camp or some shit like that, they were talking about that, with military and shit.  
Yer not doing anything else but complain about me plans as well!"

"Because you don't get that the police don't care about us doin the right thing, they just think we're fucking murderers out there!  
They're nat like Smecker or Eunice or Dolly or Duffy!"

Their fight was interrupted when they heard someone knocking on their door. The knocking got louder and faster with every second they waited.  
Both twins looked at each other, then Connor approached the door to peek through the spyhole.

"It's Eunice!" he shouted and opened the door. The detective stormed in and kicked the door shut behind her.  
When she saw Connor she wrapped her arms around him and sighed.

"Oh my god, I'm so glad to see you boys" she said and held the older twin tight. Connor frowned, but responded to the hug.

"Nice seeing ye too, Eunice, what the fuck's goin on?"

She let go of him and looked at him, then she saw Murphy sitting on the couch and eyeing them curiously. The blonde woman sighed and shook her head.

"I need to sit down."

* * *

It took Eunice a while to calm down. She was sitting on the couch with Connor's whiskey bottle in her hands and whenever she guided it to her mouth  
the twins could see that she was shaking. Her short black hair was a complete mess and there was blood on her clothes.

"We need to get out of here boys. Fast. They're coming. They're everywhere."

Connor frowned. "Who is?"

"The walkers. There was a barricade blocking off Dorchester and it broke. There's no stopping them."

The twins looked at each other, then Murphy turned his head to look at Eunice again.

"Walkers?"

The detective raised her head and looked at the two Irishmen. When she saw that they honestly didn't know what she was talking about she started laughing.

"Oh boys, you're so clueless."

The older folded his arms and snorted.

"Well, you didn't tell us shit, I was trying ta call ye, but ever since Duffy came here two weeks ago we didn't hear a fuckin thing from y'all and.."

"Duffy is dead" Eunice interrupted him and the twins glared at her.

"What?"

"Turned. He's one of them now. "

Murphy covered his mouth with his hand, Connor shook his head and snorted.

"No fucking way, stop fuckin with us Eunice."

"I'm not_ fucking_ with you!" she yelled and buried her face in her hands.

"Duffy, Dolly, even Paul. He protected me from them, gave me time to make it out of there. I saw them.." She took a deep breath and shook her head.  
Paul Smecker had always been more than just a colleague to her. He had been like a father, her guardian after her suspension.

"Everyone is gone. It's just me. I'm all that's left."

"No" Murphy said and shook his head. Then he kicked the table and started walking up and down the room.

"No" he said again and Connor looked at him.

"Murph.."

"I fuckin told ye Connor! We should've left weeks ago! We could've helped them instead af sitting here on our asses doin fuckin nothing!"  
he snapped and shoved his twin hard. Connor growled and shoved him back.

"Fuck ye, I was just doing what we were fuckin told! Stay indoors, wait fer official instructions, wait fer it to calm down!"

"Does this look like fuckin calming down ta ye, you fuckin retard?"

"Boys!" Eunice interrupted them and both brothers looked at her.

"We've got to leave. Grab everything you can, arm yourself, get food, we need to get to Black Falcon Cruise Terminal."

"What?"

"Why, ye wanna go on a holiday now?"

The detective got up and shook her head. Then she started searching their apartment for useful stuff.

"Last time I heard something from above they said something about boats leaving town. There's no way getting out of the city, there's barricades and walkers everywhere.  
I heard something about a military camp at Fort Point somewhere."

"What the fuck are walkers?" Connor asked and frowned. Murphy started getting their things together as well.  
Eunice looked at the blonde twin and sighed.

"Dead people, except they're not dead."

"That's fuckin crazy. Impossible. I mean read about it all over the internet, but it's the fuckin internet. 's gotta be bullshit."

"I thought the same, until I shot a man four times and he just kept coming."

Connor remembered the woman on the street, her guts hanging out, all the blood outside. He swallowed hard.

"At first we thought they were just sick. Until they bit others and those others died and became them and bit others and turned them. It wouldn't stop.  
Whatever it is, they just keep coming. They keep walking, that's why we call them walkers. How much ammo have you got Murphy?"  
she asked the younger twin when she saw him getting their guns. He looked up and shrugged.

"Not much. We were hopin fer you lot to give us more as soon as...well doesn't fuckin matter anymore now, does it?"

"Take everything you've got. You're gonna need it."

Connor still wouldn't move.

"We can't just leave this place. We've got food here, water, maybe we should just wait it out? Besides, if those fuckers are really that dangerous and...bite-y,  
then why the fuck should we make our way _through_ this city? Where's the fuckin logic in that?"

"The city center, including South Boston, is under a complete lockdown. If I'm right and barricades are holding up, then there shouldn't be any walkers there."

Eunice threw a bag at him to animate him to help them packing but he just snorted.

"Aye, since when does that ever work. That's the first line ye hear in the movies and five minutes later shit goes down with a big fat 'told you so!'."

Murphy growled.

"Will yah fuckin shut it and help us? It was my plan as well, to go some place safe, now Eunice's sayin the same, so it's gotta be the right thing to do.  
Just think about yer fuckin plans and how many times they almost got us killed, got Rocco killed?"

This made his brother snap.

"Don't ye fuckin dare talking about Roc here!"

Another gentle knock on the door interrupted them and Connor growled.

"Oh who the fuck is it this time."

Eunice stared at them and swallowed.

"I didn't bring anyone here with me."

_Knock. knock. knock._

The twins looked at each other and kept quiet.

_Knock. knock. knock._

They just listened to the scratching and knocking on their door. Then they heard groans.

"It's one of them" Murphy whispered and Connor hushed him.

He made his way to the door and peaked through the spyhole. He gasped when bloody dead grey eyes were looking right back at him.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Shit" the Irishman whispered and looked at Eunice and Murphy who were standing in the hallway.

"What do we do? That's the only way out!"

He looked through the spyhole again.

"I think it's Mrs Tatcher from next door...Aye, her door's open. Fuck."

"There's only one way to kill them" Eunice whispered and Connor looked at her.

"I can't just kill Mrs Tatcher!"

"This isn't Mrs fuckin Tatcher anymore, ye retard!" Murphy whispered back and Eunice nodded.

"It's just a walking corpse, Mrs Tatcher died a long time ago Connor."

"Well then shoot, how do ye kill Mrs Ex-Tatcher? Cos she just keeps coming and scratching on tha door like a fuckin creep!"

"You've got to destroy the brain."

Murphy turned around to get their guns. He was just about to give one to Connor when Eunice placed a hand on his chest and shook her head.

"Too much noise. It would attract even more of them."

"Then how the fuck are we sapposed ta kill her?" Connor whisper-shouted and Eunice looked at him. Murphy ran off again.

"Bash her brains in."

The Irishman widened his eyes. "What? There's no way 'm bashing a woman's brain in!"

"Here, take that" Murphy said and handed his brother the machete they had found in the shop. Connor raised an eyebrow.  
So did his twin and poked him with the machete.

"Fucking take it Connor. Ye need an invitation? Don't be such a fuckin princess! Or let me do it."

The older twin grabbed the machete and shook his head.

"No fuckin way."

He took a deep breath and peaked through the spyhole. Mrs Walker-Tatcher was still standing in front of their door and tried to get in. She just kept scratching and knocking.  
The blonde twin animated his brother and Eunice with his hand to back off, then he positioned himself in front of the door and held the machete tight in his right hand,  
with his left hand placed on the door handle.

"Three..two..one..."

With a growl he opened the door and Mrs Tatcher stumbled forward, snapping at him and growling like an animal. Before Connor could even process what was happening  
he struck her down with one brutal blow to her head. The dead woman let out a final gasp, then she went limb and fell to her knees. With the machete still stuck  
her head she remained in that position and stared at the older twin with dead eyes. Connor gasped in surprise and disgust and tried to get his weapon out of her skull,  
which was harder than he thought. He had never killed a man like this before, never killed a _woman._

He finally managed to pull the machete out and a disgusting smelling gush of blood rained down on his shirt.  
The thing that had used to be Mrs Tatcher fell down to the floor and drained their carpet with blood.

"Fuck" Connor murmured and wiped the blood of his hands. Then he turned around and swallowed hard.

"Fuck."

He stared at the blood on Murphy's machete and realized that he was shaking.

"Fuck."

The blonde raised his head and looked at his twin in horror, then he turned around and looked at Mrs Tatcher's body.

* * *

He stepped out of their apartment, grabbed her by her legs and pulled her out until she was lying in front of their door.  
Once he had made sure that she was dead and _stayed_ dead he went over to her apartment to check for any other unwanted guests.  
All he could see was blood everywhere and guts lying on the floor, something that looked like it had used to be a cat. Murphy entered her apartment  
after a couple of minutes to check on his brother, but Connor didn't want to talk. Didn't want to talk or think about anything.

"'t wasn't her anymore." Murphy said quietly and leaned against the door frame.

Connor didn't say anything and checked her kitchen for food and other useful things. He stopped when he saw the pictures that were pinned to her fridge.

There she was, Mrs Tatcher, arms wrapped around a beautiful blonde woman who looked like she was her daughter. A picture of a cat was right next to it.  
They all looked so..._clean_. So happy.

"Maybe yer right" Connor said quietly and Murphy shifted.

"Af course. You heard Eunice. And you saw her. She would've killed ye, eaten you or god knows what kinda shit those things do."

"I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about te plan. Maybe we should leave. Maybe it isn't safe. Maybe ye should do the planning fer once."

He turned around and looked at his twin. He approached him and handed him the machete.

"Here, take that. It's yers after all."

His younger half raised an eyebrow.

"What about ye?"

Connor smirked. He didn't want his brother to see how he felt right now. And maybe the pretending made it easier to come to terms with the whole thing.

"Still got my rope, aye? Besides, yer the fuckin Rambo Wannabe, not me."

He nudged his brother and animated him to leave Mrs' Tatcher's apartment. When they stepped out of the kitchen the older threw one final look over his shoulder  
and looked at the pictures. The pictures of the smiling happy woman he had just killed.


	4. Quarantine

New chapter! Omg I'm having so much fun with this fic. Seriously though. Just ajhsjsfhjsf all the feels. I really hope you like it as much as I do!

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter Four - Quarantine

* * *

"Our best bet t'get to the terminal's gotta be Mass Pike." Connor declared and pointed at the map they had found in Mrs Tatcher's apartment.  
He moved his finger all the way over Massachusetts Turnpike, which cut its way through Boston, heading East.

Murphy nodded and looked at Eunice. "Aye, you got a car? How did ye get here?"

Eunice shook her head. "It broke down and I couldn't get through the barricades anyway."

She looked at the map and chewed on her bottom lip.

"This won't work boys."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "Why? 's a good plan!"

Eunice pointed at the interstate and shook her head.

"You've got to assume that everyone is trying that. There's got to be chaos. Cars and traffic jams everywhere. All major roads will be gridlocked."

She pointed at the southern area.

"We should make our way through South End, stay off the main roads."

Both twins looked at the map but Connor didn't look too pleased.

"Aye but that's right through the fuckin city. We gotta assume that there will be loads af..walkers and shit. Mass Pike's got fences and walls blocking it off fram  
the rest af the city, so there shouldn't be too many af those fuckers there."

Murphy, who was biting his nails again, nodded and looked at Eunice.

"Aye, I think Connor's right."

Eunice pointed at the section where the Prudential Center was located.

"Look, there's a whole section underground, Connor. Meaning walls to our left and right and only two exists and we would be dependentvon electricity down there,  
and that could be cut off any minute now. Besides, we've got no idea how many walkers are down there, how bad it really is. I say our best bet is South End."

The blonde twin pointed at Charles River Basin.

"Well what about te river? Maybe we can find a boat there somewhere, make our way to the terminal on a boat."

"Ye know how to drive a fucking boat, smartass?" Murphy asked and frowned. Connor glared at him.

"Fuck ye! Can't be that hard, can it?"

Eunice shook her head.

"That would be a long way round. Why make our way all around the city center when there's a direct route? We shouldn't waste any time.  
God knows how long they're waiting for people to come there before they leave. I don't want to risk anything."

The dark haired twin looked at the detective for a while, then he nodded and turned his head to look at his brother.

"Well, I'm in."

Connor glared at his twin and growled.

"All right. Still, fuckin stupid idea."

* * *

With their duffel bags filled with food, water, flashlights, batteries, a few clothes, guns and ammo the twins and Eunice left their safe harbor and closed the door shut  
behind them. Mrs Tatcher's body was still lying on the floor in front of their apartment, and when Connor saw her again he felt guilty for just leaving her like that.  
Eunice and Murphy were on their way down when he knelt down next to her body.

"Wait" he demanded and his companions froze.

Connor folded Mrs Tatcher's arms over her chest and crossed himself, then he closed his eyes and murmured a prayer. He wasn't surprised when Murphy came back and  
joined him. When they were done saying their prayer the blonde twin gave his brother one of the pennies he carried in his trouser pockets and together they placed them  
on her eyes. Eunice just stood there and watched. Connor sighed and Murphy patted his shoulder.

"Come on. Let's go" he murmured and got up. Connor followed him after a moment.  
For the first time saying the prayer and giving her pennies didn't make him feel any better.

* * *

There weren't many walkers out there on Park Drive. The trio decided to make their way to Agassiz Road, which was the nearest road that crossed the Back Bay Fens.  
Pretty soon Connor had grabbed Murphy's machete again and walked ahead, simply because he didn't want to talk right now and needed to be in charge.  
Murphy was busy lighting a cigarette when Eunice moved closer to him.

"You two seem a bit cranky with each other" she noticed and the black haired twin snorted.

"Aye."

"What happened, I thought you were inseparable."

Murphy looked at his twin's back and sighed.

"Aye, we still are..he's just..a massive dick sometimes."

He turned his head to check their backs. He could see two walkers following them but they were slow and still close to the tennis field.

"Can't blame him though, with all this shit happening. He just hates when he's nat in charge."

"You seem to be handling it pretty well" Eunice murmured and looked ahead. Murphy looked at her and blew out some smoke.

"Well I think the difference between me'n him is that I_ knew_ shit was fucked up. Long before him. And after all the shit I've seen and read, I don't have a hard time  
accepting that shit's changed and that we have ta fuckin stop thinking and do something about it."

He sighed and looked at Connor again.

"He's just stressed. That's all. Been havin nightmares and shit fer the past couple af weeks. But don't worry, we got yer back."

Eunice looked at him.

"I'm glad you're still alive Murphy. The things I've seen.." She shook her head.

"Years of training and I still wasn't prepared for _that_."

"Well fuck me" they heard Connor say and looked at him. They were standing in front of Agassiz Road that led to South End, only that there was a massive fence blocking  
their way. There were loads of instruction plates telling them what to do and what not to do. Words like **QUARANTINE, HOT ZONE, INFECTION **and **DO NOT ENTER  
**could be read everywhere. Murphy tried shaking the fence, but it wouldn't move an inch.

"Maybe we have t'try and climb over it, or get down from te bridge and try it down there" he suggested and Connor growled.

"'s fuckin water down there, smartass, why do ye think they built this fuckin bridge. Besides, good luck crossing barbed wire."

"Fuck ye, you got a better idea?"

Eunice started shaking the fence as well. Connor hushed his brother and started reading.

"They're writing something about infection free zones here, that they blocked off the entire city center, using Massachusetts Ave as border."  
He approached his brother and opened his bag to search for their map. Eunice came to join them and grabbed it. She pointed at the street and nodded.

"We've just got to head further north. Maybe you were right about the interstate after all, Connor.  
Maybe that's our way to cross the Fens and make our way to the city center."

The blonde nodded. "Aye, fuckin told ye so!"

He made Murphy turn around again to put the map away.

"Let's go. I don't wanna run out of daylight before we get there."

* * *

They decided to stay on the sidewalk close to the Fens, and pretty soon they passed Fenway's victory gardens.  
Another mutilated corpse was lying on the road, but the younger twin decided not to look at it. He just stared at all the flowers and trees on the other side,  
and after passing some high bushes and trees they could see the Prudential building. If all the instruction plates they had just seen were right then this meant  
that it was within the safe zone, so maybe getting there was easier than they had thought. Because really, it looked like he could almost touch it.

"Look, there's te Pru" he said and pointed at the skyscraper. Both Eunice and Connor looked at it, but neither of them would say anything.

"Remember when we jumped down there Conn?" he continued because he was getting sick of everyone and everything being so quiet. It was Boston, a big city,  
why couldn't they hear anything but the wind, the rustling of the trees down the road and a strange murmuring and groaning that seemed to follow them wherever they went?

"Aye" he heard Connor murmur and waited for him to say anything else, but his twin just kept walking and watching the area.

"'t was fuckin cool. Shoulda seen us Eunice. No matter how much I hate Connor and his stupid fuckin plans all te time, it sure was awesome. Felt like flying."

Eunice smiled and was just about to answer when Connor suddenly stopped walking and hushed them.

"Ye hear that?" he asked and both Eunice and Murphy listened up.  
They could hear loud moaning and groaning and the rustling of what sounded like chains.

"The fuck is that?" Murphy asked and Connor hushed him again.

They could see another street right in front of them, but it was empty. Pretty soon they were sure that the noise was coming from a group of walkers somewhere near them,  
but they couldn't see them. Connor grabbed his machete and looked at his companions.

"You go and hide behind the bushes, 'm gonna have a look and see what te fuck is going on."

Murphy shook head. "Are you fuckin mental? Yer nat going alone!"

His twin glared at him.

"Do as I say, Murphy MacManus. I'll be right back."

"Fuck you, yer nat my boss ye asshole! You can't.."

"Shut it, now's not the time to argue!" Connor interrupted him and turned around to leave.  
Murphy was just about to run after him when Eunice grabbed him by his pea coat and held him back.

"He's right Murphy. Let him."

* * *

Connor tried to stay low. He was half running, half tiptoeing until he reached the t-intersection that connected Park Drive with Boylston street.  
He could see a couple of walkers down the road to his left, where a gas station was located. Then he turned his head when he heard the groaning again. Connor almost  
dropped his machete in horror. Boylston Street was another four lane street that crossed the Fens as Richardson Bridge, and now that he thought about it, he shouldn't  
be surprised that it was blocked as well. There was another massive fence about 200 yards down the road and in contrast to Agassiz Road, which had been abandoned,  
there were about four dozen walkers piling up on it, dragging and shaking the fence and trying to get through.

"Fuck" Connor murmured and turned his head again to look for another way. Two walkers were getting closer, but he didn't pay any attention to them just yet.  
He saw another street right in front of him, and the flood lights of Fenway Park. He knew that there was no way they could get to the other side of the Fens by  
using Richardson bridge. He was just about to return to his brother when he heard Eunice scream. A second later he heard Murphy shouting his name.  
Without hesitation he answered, it was his most basic instinct after all.

"Murph!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and wanted to start running, but when the rustling of chains and moans to his right suddenly stopped, he froze.  
For a second it was quiet in Boston, then he heard a loud gunshot coming from Park Drive, and slow and unsteady footsteps coming down Boylston street.  
Connor turned his head in horror and looked back. The entire herd of walkers was slowing making its way down the road, coming to get him.  
"Connor!" he heard Murphy shout again, which made him snap out of his state of complete and utter shock. Then, without hesitation, he started running.


	5. Fenway Park

New chapter! Looks like not many people are interested in this story (not many reviews & clicks *sighs*), but I don't care.  
I'm loving it and I'm gonna keep writing because I'm having so much fun with it =)

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter Five - Fenway Park

* * *

"Murph!" Connor yelled again because pretty much every walker close to them had heard him anyway. He didn't care about the herd coming closer or all the other walkers  
getting interested in him. He cursed himself for leaving his brother alone and wandering off on his own, and suddenly the couple of yards that separated them  
felt like thousands of miles. The blonde could make out his younger half where he had left him, right in front of the Fenway Victory Gardens.

"Murph! What the fuck happened?!"

When he finally reached his younger twin and knelt down next to his brother to check on him, he finally saw _what_ had happened. Eunice was lying there in Murphy's lap,  
and right behind them was a dead walker with a bullet to his head. The detective was covered in blood and pressed her hand to her neck that was bleeding heavily.

"Fucker came outta nowhere and bit her man, I...fuck, and I.." Murphy tried to explain. When Connor looked at him he saw that his brother was shaking.

"'s alright Murph, were gonna take care af that, Eunice? Can ye hear me?"

The woman was in shock by the looks of it, and when Connor tried to move her hand away a gush of blood seeped through her fingers.

"Fuck.."

The blonde twin looked up to see where the herd was. He widened his eyes in shock when he saw that they were passing the junction and entering Park Drive,  
coming closer and getting louder.

"What the fuck!" Murphy exclaimed when he finally saw them too.

Connor searched his duffel for a t-shirt and wrapped it around Eunice neck. Two seconds later and it was soaked with blood.

"We gotta move her, we gotta go back to the apartment Murph."

"But what about the safe zone?!"

Connor grabbed Eunice by her arms to lift her up.

"All the streets are fuckin blocked! There's walkers piling up on it everywhere! Eunice's injured, we gotta go, take her somewhere safe! I fucking told ye 't was a shite idea!"

The older twin turned around to head back for their apartment. Murphy grabbed both their duffels and ran after him. Connor could hardly run because Eunice was  
way heavier than she looked, and he thanked god that walkers were just as handicapped and unable to run.

"We gotta get her to some fuckin hospital, there's gotta be some place!" Murphy shouted and kept turning around to check on the walkers. "They're catching up!"

"Shut it Murph, yer yelling ain't fuckin helping!"

They were passing Peterborough Street when Connor suddenly stopped in his tracks and his brother ran right into him.

"Jesus fuckin christ."

Coming around the corner, and exiting most of the buildings that faced the Back Bay Fens, were another couple of dozen walkers, making it impossible for  
the MacManus twins to get back to their apartment. Murphy turned around to see where the other herd was and cover his brother's back.

Connor's mind was racing. _Was this it?_  
The walkers were slow and dumb and he couldn't possibly believe that they were _still _so dangerous and actually able to surround them, get them so _easily_.

"They're coming closer!" Murphy announced and his brother growled.  
He looked at the walkers approaching them from the other side of the road. Connor tried to make out some place where they could go, but there was water to their left,  
walkers in front of them and behind them and no possible way to get back to their apartment. _Think Connor, think, were the fuck are we sapposed to go._

He heard Eunice whimpering and gasping in his arms, and he knew that with every second he spent on thinking about their whole situation their friend was bleeding  
to her death and the walkers were closing in on them. The Irishman turned his head. He could see another bunch of walkers stumbling down Peterborough Street,  
the street that was heading west, _wrong fuckin direction, _but right now it looked like their only way out.

"This way!" he yelled and started running.

Connor was unable to fight the walkers because he was carrying Eunice, so it all came down to Murphy shooting and fighting their way out.  
His younger half ran ahead to kill all the walkers in front of them with his machete, and whenever Connor could hear a walker coming too close behind his back  
he yelled for his brother to shoot them. And once again he thanked god that they were such a good team and his younger half such a decent fighter.

They reached the intersection where Jersey Street and Queensberry Street met, and the blonde let out a relieved sigh. Jersey Street was where the entry to their  
apartment and the little store was. He didn't know for how long he could keep running. It felt like Eunice was getting heavier with every step he took, and the smell  
of blood and copper made him feel sick. Murphy suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at his brother.

"They're fuckin everywhere!"

Connor had finally caught up with him and turned his head to see how far away their apartment was. He cursed when another herd of walkers was blocking their way out.

"Shit, ye gotta carry her fer a bit Murph." he gasped and handed Eunice over. The blonde put his hands on his hips to catch breath, then he took the machete and bags from Murphy.  
He loaded his guns and turned around to see where the walkers he had brought with him were.

"Fuck."

They were getting _close_. Connor turned around to see how bad the situation was further west, but he wasn't surprised when he saw that there weren't exactly less walkers.  
And the walking dead weren't their only problem. Every freaking street and house looked the _same_. _Where the fuck were they?_

"Conn, she's getting weaker, I can hardly hear her fuckin breathin." Murphy said and shifted Eunice's weight to the other side.  
Connor narrowed his eyes when he saw a blue banner down the street. _Fenway Park_. Connor nudged his brother's shoulder and pointed at it.

"I fuckin forgot about that! Fenway Park! The fuckin stadium! There's gotta be someone there, maybe they put up military camps in there,  
they're always using big shit like stadiums fer emergencies!"

He grabbed his machete and approached a walker that was getting dangerously close to them.  
He was wearing a nice suit and looked like he had been a former banker. Without missing a heartbeat Connor cut his throat and kicked his leg.  
When the walker stumbled and fell another gush of blood was raining down on him, cold, sticky and stinking, and he was surprised how indifferent he had  
become to that in just a matter of hours. A day ago it wouldn't have been this easy for him to kill like that, but now that one of them had bitten Eunice,  
now that hundreds of them were after him and his brother, he had come to terms with the whole killing thing, and most importantly,  
that those things weren't people any more.

The twins headed north, where the stadium was, and soon apartment buildings gave way to business centers and sporting goods stores.  
They passed Bolyston Street once more, where a massive traffic jam was blocking the entire intersection. Prudential Tower and Hancock Place were clearly visible  
to their right, but with all the cars, walkers and fences blocking their way there was no way they could get there any time soon. Once again they were reminded  
how _close_ the safe zone was and it was even more frustrating. They could see a Pharmacy just around the corner, but with all the entrances being barred and  
walkers everywhere Connor didn't want to risk breaking in. Smashing the windows would be way too loud, and they had no idea how much time they had until  
the walkers caught up with them. And there was no way he wanted to get trapped in a store right in the middle of the city with thousands of walkers surrounding them  
and trying to get in.

The twins kept walking and running until Murphy was out of breath and it was Connor's turn to carry Eunice, and after running and fighting their way through Fenway  
they finally reached the stadium. For a moment they just stood in front of it and stared at the massive building. There was another load of cars blocking the streets,  
and there was an alarmingly high number of ambulances and police cars.

Connor listened up for a moment, only to hear..._nothing. _They could hear no sirens, no one talking, no emergency broadcasts coming through the massive stadium speakers.  
There was nothing but the groaning and murmuring of the undead roaming through the streets. It didn't surprise them that all the gates were closed. Connor made Murphy  
carry Eunice again, then approached the steel door that was designated "GATE D" . He started shaking it but it wouldn't open. He turned around to see if he could  
make out another entrance, but massive obligatory construction fences were blocking his view. He noticed the fences right next to gate D,  
fences that looked like they were part of the building itself.

"Conn, it's getting worse" Murphy said.  
He was sitting on the pavement and looking at unconscious Eunice in his arms. Connor just looked at them for a moment, then he saw the walkers coming closer again.

"We gotta get in there. There's _gotta _be someone in there, just look at all the fuckin ambulances and police cars."

"Don't ye fuckin see it man?! They abandoned this place!" Murphy yelled and glared at his brother.  
He couldn't believe how naive and _narrow-minded _Connor was these days.

"I fuckin see it! But ye know what_ I_ see? Fences surrounding the building, fuckin ambulances with medical supplies. I bet there's a cafeteria with food in there,  
maybe even a shitload af supplies!"

He passed his brother to take a look at the steel gate that wasn't as high as the other fences. Shaking it didn't do anything at all, but then he got an idea.

"Let's climb over the gate."

Murphy turned his head and frowned.

"The fuck, we don't even know what's in there! Could be too fuckin dangerous! There could be a shitload af walkers in there!"

Connor let go of the gate and approached his twin to get Eunice.

"Fuck ye, everywhere is dangerous now! Fuckin use yer brain Murph, that herd is close, we might've lost them fer now but god knows how long 's gonna take til  
they catch up on us! And I'd rather be on te other fuckin side af this fence instead af running through this fuckin city with no cover at all!"

He carried Eunice over to the gate and looked at his brother.

"You climb on the other side, I'm gonna hand her over and be right behind her. Take the machete with ye."

Murphy got up and turned his head to check the streets for walkers. There were maybe five or six of them slowly stumbling their way down Van Ness street.  
After turning and looking for another way the younger twin finally gave in.

"Yer gonna be the death af me with yer stupid fuckin plans" he murmured and climbed up the gate.

For a moment he remained on the top to have a look around, but he couldn't see any walkers inside. Murphy looked back at Connor who was waiting impatiently,  
so he let out a sigh and jumped.

"Alright, 'm fuckin here."

"'m gonna try t'get her over the gate." he heard Connor say on the other side.

"Fuckin hurry" the dark haired twin complained.

Not only because being all alone on this side of the fence made him feel uncomfortable, but also because he didn't want Connor to be all alone on the streets  
with walkers all around them and Eunice bleeding to death. After some shifting and complaining Connor and Murphy managed to get the injured detective on  
the other side of the fence, and a minute later the blonde twin joined his brother as well. He pointed at the stairs right in front of them, the staircase that  
was attached to the outside of the stadium and headed all the way up to the top.

"Best way t'get in, don't ye think?" Connor suggested and took hold of Eunice again. For a moment he just looked at her blood stained face, then he felt her pulse.

"Fuck, we gotta hurry."


	6. Stadium

**Retribution**

Chapter Six - Stadium

* * *

It felt like it took them forever to get Eunice up the stairs and into the stadium.  
The detective had lost her conciousness by now, and both twins knew that there was no way they could take a break from running and climbing right now.  
Because Eunice needed help. _Immediately_. They had just reached the first floor when Connor suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Ye hear that?"

Murphy listened up. All he could hear was the groaning and moaning coming from the streets below, all the walkers that were passing the stadium and  
piling up on the gates. The dark haired twin frowned and shook his head. He urged his brother to keep walking, then he heard it as well. There was static noise  
and the cracking of what sounded like a walkie-talkie, and it sounded like there was someone talking. Both twins looked at each other, then they started running.  
Murphy, who was carrying nothing but their bags and the machete, entered the stadium first. Connor tried to keep up with his brother,  
but it wasn't easy with Eunice getting heavier with every single move he made.

"Don't fuckin run like that! Be careful!"

He turned around once more to see how many walkers were on the streets below. The gate was shaking violently, and every once in a while he could see a bloody hand  
grabbing the very top. He had no idea how much time they had until the gate broke and the walkers got in, but he was sure it was just a matter of days until  
they would manage to get in. If they were lucky. The blonde rushed after his brother and entered the stadium as well.  
He saw Murphy standing there by the top row of seats that were designated as sections 17 and 18.

"Ye see anyone? Murph?"

His brother was just standing there and not moving at all, which made Connor suspicious.

"What the fuck's..." he stopped talking when he reached the top row as well.

Fenway Park was the oldest Major League Baseball stadium, home to the Boston Red Sox, constantly sold out, and even the twins had seen it on  
television every once in a while despite their lack of interest. Connor and Murphy had never really been into baseball, but whoever had been a fan sure would have  
loved being inside that stadium. Back in the old days the view must have been amazing. Except it wasn't amazing any more. Not at all.

"Oh my god" was all Connor managed to say.

Never in their lives had they seen something like _this. _The 300ft wide and 400ft long baseball field had been converted to an enormous _graveyard._

They could see hundreds and hundreds of bodies lying on the ground, all safely packed away in white body bags.  
Row upon row of bodies, small, tall, children, men, women, covering the _entire_ field. Murphy placed a hand on one of the seats and sat down. This was too much.

The baseball diamond had been converted to a temporary American Red cross camp. Tents and pavilions had been put up, and there were several  
ambulances parked at the very end of the field. What was even worse than all the bodies and the stench...they were all alone. The place looked deserted.

"What the fuck is going on Conn" Murphy asked and shook his head. When he looked at his brother there was nothing but fear and confusion.  
Connor put Eunice down and loaded his guns.

"I gotta go down there, check one af the tents fer medical supplies, maybe there's someone there."  
He made his way to the stairs when Murphy got up and grabbed him by his arm.

"Don't! Don't fucking go all on yer own again. 'm coming with ye."

Connor shook him off and growled.

"You gotta look after Eunice, she is fuckin bleeding to death here Murph!"

He turned around and started running down the stairs. The closer he got to the ground the more he could smell how bad it really was.  
Smelling all the walkers outside had been bad, but nothing compared to this sort of decomposition.

He had just reached the next section when he heard Murphy shouting his name again. Connor couldn't see his brother from where he was standing,  
and for a moment he didn't really know what to do. He was half way down, and it really wouldn't take him long to check one of the tents for supplies,  
but when Murphy kept shouting his name, his brother instincts kicked in. He cursed himself for doing this to Eunice, having her wait another couple of minutes,  
but Murphy always came first. The blonde ran back up the stairs. When he finally reached the top he was completely out of breath.

"What's wrong?!" he managed to say and tried to catch breath. Murphy was kneeling next to Eunice, his hands bloody and eyes widened in shock.

"She's fuckin dead!"

Connor looked at the injured woman to his feet, tried to make out whether her chest was rising and falling, but nothing would happen.

"Yer shitting me!"

He knelt down next to Eunice and rested his head on her chest to check her heartbeat, but he couldn't hear a thing.

"No fucking way!"

He put his hands on her chest and started pumping.

"Just cos her heart stopped beating it doesn't mean she's dead!" Connor grunted and Murphy looked at him.

"She's lost too much blood, we're no fucking doctors Connor!"

The older twin checked her pulse and breathing one more, but there were still no vital signs.

"You don't fucking die, ye hear me Eunice!"  
Connor yelled and bowed down to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when Murphy grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him back.

"No!" he shouted and they both fell back. Connor cursed and tried to fight his brother off.

"Are ye fuckin mental, 'm trying ta save her life here! Eunice!"

Murphy held him tight and wouldn't let him near her.

"Don't ye fucking get it Connor, she is _dead. _She's fuckin dead."

"I can still save her! Let me go Murphy!" Connor yelled and kept fighting his brother's grip.

"No! You touch her lips and you get infected! She told us, you get bit and you die and you turn! The infection gets transmitted through bites, saliva! She's infected!"

The older MacManus finally managed to get rid of his younger half and knelt back down next to Eunice. She still wasn't breathing or moving at all,  
and when he took her cold hand Connor realized that his brother was right. Eunice Bloom. Who had helped them get out of prison. Another good friend. Dead.

He just looked at her blood stained face for a while. He knew that it was his fault. He had been the one to run off and leave them alone. He hadn't been there  
to cover their backs and see the walker. He hadn't run fast enough to get her here. He had been the one to listen to them instead of staying inside.  
Connor let go of her hand, got up and walked away.

"Connor.." Murphy shouted after him, but right now he didn't want to be near Eunice. Near his brother.  
Because all the confusion and fear and anger was eating him up. He just didn't understand how they could lose _everyone _in a matter of weeks.  
Not only their friends. It looked like everywhere they went there were just dead people, it felt like the whole of Boston, hell, the whole world was dying around them.  
He walked a couple of yards until he reached section 14, then he stopped and just looked at the bodies that were lying on the baseball field. It was strangely quiet  
inside the stadium. A stadium that had used to be filled with laughter, cheering, music, the sound of bats hitting balls.  
There was nothing but silence and the murmuring of the undead outside.

Connor put his hands on his hips and tried to calm down. He was the calm one after all, wasn't he? He was the one Murphy looked up to when things went wrong.  
He was the one who was supposed to be their brain. But how could he keep calm after seeing all this? After watching Eunice die and being so fucking helpless?  
The blonde kicked one of the chairs because he could no longer keep it in. He knew he needed to be strong for Murphy, but right now he just_ couldn't_.

He wanted to rip all the seats out of the ground and throw them at all the bodies to cover them, make them disappear, make everything disappear and go away.  
_Why was this happening to them? _He grabbed one of the seats just so he wouldn't fall to his knees, because right now it felt like he was having a complete breakdown.  
He stared up at the sky as if there was an answer, and in his head he kept repeating the question over and over again. _Why._

He waited and waited but no answer would come. And yet again he was reminded how completely _alone _they were. Connor let go of the seat and  
turned around to look where his brother was. Murphy was kneeling next to Eunice, shifting her body and taking care of her. His younger half didn't know that  
he was watching him, and whenever he was completely unaware of that he looked like he was 10 years younger. There was something so childish about Murphy,  
like you could break him easily. Connor knew his brother all to well and knew that this was just an illusion and Murphy sure knew how to break necks,  
but this was one of the moments where he didn't look like it at all. Because it looked like the kid was crying.

It wasn't the first time he saw his brother cry. How devastated he really could be. When they had lost Rocco, their father. No matter how hard they  
tried to look tough and be tough serial killers, they were still human after all. Of course they mourned the death of a friend or a family member.

They were twins and yet they had their own way of showing emotions. Murphy was the one who was very emotional, who could just break down and cry and be vulnerable.  
Connor was the one to lose his shit in situations like that. So when he saw his brother like this again, he just got angry.

He turned around once more just so he didn't have to face his twin, and when he looked back up at the sky and there was still no answer,  
he kicked the seats once more and cursed as loud as he could. His words were echoing through the entire building , another reminder that they were all by themselves now.

* * *

When Connor got back to Murphy he saw his younger half sitting on one of the chairs and just staring down at the bodies.  
The blonde looked at his brother for a while and just watched him. He could tell that Murphy had been crying, because his eyes were red and he looked like shit,  
but it looked like he had stopped as soon as he had seen him come back. Eunice was still lying there on the ground with arms folded over her chest.

"We gotta give her to the lord" Murphy said quietly and Connor sat down next to his brother.

"I was just waiting fer you ta come back so we can do it tagether."

"Aye" Connor responded just as quietly and low-spirited as his brother.

They didn't speak for a while, and much to their surprise they didn't even feel like smoking. They were glad that they could sit down and rest for a bit,  
but this also meant that they had time to actually _think_ about everything. Connor searched their bags for a small bottle of water and after taking a sip  
he handed it to his brother. Murphy shook his head, but his twin urged him to drink.

"Yer gonna need it. God knows when we get the chance to take the next break."

His younger half growled and took the bottle. Connor sighed and rubbed his eyes. God, all this shit was making him tired.

"Ye don't have ta be scared. 'm not gonna let them hurt ye, you know" he murmured and Murphy snorted.

"'m not scared. And I'm not fuckin five anymore Connor"

He looked at all the bodies and sighed.

"'m just so fucking confused, ye know?"

His twin nodded. "Aye."

"I mean, what the fuck is happening, how the fuck..where...how the fuck did we miss all this. Christ, just, look at them and..."

"Murphy."

The dark haired twin looked at his brother who nodded.

"I know."

Connor put the bottle away and sighed.

"'m gonna get us outta here. We're gonna come up with a plan and stick to it. It's what we do. We're gonna get one af the boats.  
There's gotta be military somewhere, refuge camps, just like ye said. We're gonna find 'em and everything's gonna work out somehow. You just gotta believe, aye?  
God's on our side after all. Everything's gonna be fine."

Both twins startled when they heard a low and tired moan behind them.  
Connor and Murphy turned around in surprise, only to see Eunice shifting and moving and slowly getting up from the ground.


	7. Mercy

New chapter! I can tell you that this fic is going to be quite long, there's loads of locations waiting to be explored, new drama, new characters  
and everything and I must say I've never had _so_ much fun writing and planning a story. Did you see the awesome new cover?  
julie9rides from tumblr did that as well (hiiiiii Julie!) I seriously love her art. She's made the cover art for Salvation and Two Sides of the Same Coin as well!  
I -love- this cover man. Although it's spoilerish! Tehehe! But I wanted it to be this way. Anyhoo, new chapter. Another character death.  
Believe me, this is just the beginning *HARHARHARHAR*

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 7 - Mercy

* * *

It was both interesting and horrifying to watch how a walker came to "life". All the typical mannerisms that made Eunice "Eunice" were fading away.  
The way she was trying to get up and walking looked nothing like a normal human being would act. It looked like it was the single most exhausting and complicated thing to do.  
The thing that had used to be their friend, Eunice Bloom, the FBI agent, had turned into a battered, clumsy and helpless... monster. Because the noises she was making  
weren't human anymore. It was an animalistic growl and hissing, and the way she was trying to get them with her bloody hands, scratching and crawling and fighting,  
it made her look like a harpy. Eunice finally managed to stand on her feet and although she was shaking and staggering like a drunk she started walking,  
coming closer and closer and growling and snapping at Connor and Murphy. The twins gasped in surprise and got up.

"Eunice?" Connor asked and the woman tilted her head.

"Aye, Eunice, it's us!" Murphy tried to reason with her.

For a moment it almost looked like Eunice was remembering, and the twins thought that if they just kept talking to her, reasoning with her, then maybe  
there was enough humanity left in her. Their hopes were destroyed when she just growled and sped up. Connor and Murphy were still walking backwards,  
trying to get away from her but keeping an eye on their friend and talking to her at the same time.

"Just come on, man, Eunice! It's us! Connor! Murphy! You can't tell me ye can forget us from one second to the next!" Connor went on and Murphy frowned.  
He looked at the detective, saw the way she walked, all the blood and the bite wound and most importantly: how different her eyes were.  
The Irishman just knew that this couldn't possibly be Eunice anymore. She looked exactly like _them_. No matter how much she looked like Eunice,  
it was her body at all, their friend was gone.

"This isn't Eunice anymore" the younger MacManus observed and Connor turned his head to look at his brother.

"What? Don't be stupid, of course it's Eunice! We brought her here, I carried her here!"

Eunice snarled and growled even more. She was trying to walk faster, but she was so clumsy and helpless and almost unable to control her feet that she couldn't possibly run.  
Her growls got louder with every inch the twins moved further away, and it almost sounded like she was getting angry. Murphy pointed at her.

"Ye can't tell me this is Eunice! She fucking died Connor! Ye heard it, there was no heartbeat, no breathing, Eunice is _dead_! Just like Duffy, Dolly, Smecker, she told us,  
you get bit and you -_die_-! How do ye think all those people out there on the streets became what they are now! We've just seen how it fuckin works!"

"And what the fuck are we sapposed to do Murphy? Kill her? Smash her brains in like she's some sorta insect?!"

Connor looked at his brother in disbelief. Once again he was so _angry_. He didn't understand how Murphy could just adjust to everything so easily.  
Without questioning a thing, their morality, their beliefs.

"Destroy all that which is evil so which is good may flourish!" Murphy reminded him and Connor snorted.

He turned around and put his hands on his hips. Eunice was still coming and growling, and the inhuman sounds that escaped her mouth made it even more frustrating.  
It sounded like Eunice was actually agreeing with them, like god was trying to tell him Murphy was _right. _Connor turned around to face Eunice again.  
For a while he just tried to find _something. _Something that told him that Eunice was still in there, that this _creature _wasn't evil, that there was something human about her,  
but after watching her for several minutes there was still no sign of that. Murphy was urging him to make a decision because they couldn't keep walking away from her forever,  
because sooner or later they would reach the very end of the grandstand. The older MacManus looked where their bags were. They were still lying on the seats  
where they had left them in a hurry. Their ammo and everything else was in there. They did have the guns and the machete with them, but he didn't want to use them.

"There's no fucking way we're bashing her brains in with the machete" Connor finally said and Murphy turned his head to look at his brother.

"So what do we do, use the guns?"

The blonde chewed on his bottom lip and looked at their bags again.

"We can't shoot the guns like that, they're fuckin loud. We would attract even more walkers to the stadium. We gotta get our silencers, say the prayer and shoot her in the head. We'll make it quick and painless. Maybe yer right, maybe that isn't Eunice anymore, but there's no way we're letting her suffer, that isn't what god wants."

Murphy looked at Eunice and their bags and nodded. Of course it wasn't easy for him to kill Eunice either, but he thanked god that Connor finally seemed to get it.

"Alright, what's te plan, how do we get the bags?"

* * *

_Why was it always him? Most importantly, why did he always ask Connor to plan things?_  
Murphy tried to make as much noise as possible. He started yelling at Eunice, kicking the seats and hitting the steel construction with his machete.  
The noise was echoing through the entire stadium and the younger twin was pretty sure that even the walkers outside could hear it. But it worked.  
Eunice was completely fixated on him and didn't pay any attention to Connor who was a few flights of stairs further down and tried to make his way back to their bags.  
Every once in a while their former friend would turn around, irritated because of the figure behind her, but whenever she was getting too interested in Connor,  
Murphy would make even more noise.

"Want fresh meat, how about ye come and get it Eunice! Come on, I'm here, just waiting fer you!"

The walker that had used to be their friend turned around again and looked at Murphy. Then she snarled and started walking in his direction again.

"Aye, that's right! Come at me!"

He cursed when he hit his head and ran right into a wall behind him. Murphy turned around in surprise only to see that he had reached the very end of this section.  
There was a massive concrete wall separating this part of the grandstand from the next, and to keep going he would have to make his way down the seats.  
He looked at his twin on the other side. Connor was still busy searching for their silencers.

"Connor, hurry the fuck up!" Murphy yelled and his twin looked up. When he saw that the younger was trapped he widened his eyes.

"Fuck! 'm trying! You sure you took them with ye?!"

Eunice was getting dangerously close now. There was no point in staying there any second longer, so Murphy cursed and climbed over a few seats to get down.

"Of course I took them with me! Open yer fuckin eyes and hurry!"

The former detective tried to climb over the seats as well to get Murphy, who was making his way back to his brother. Eunice growled and snarled furiously,  
and the twins had to realize that the more time they spent on searching for their silences the angrier and more aggressive she got. It looked like she was gradually  
gaining strength with every minute she was walking, every minute she was adjusting to being a walker after dying. The younger MacManus finally reached his brother  
and knelt down next to him to grab his duffel bag and search for their silencers. He knew _exactly_ where he had put them, and a few seconds later he pulled them out  
with a triumphant "ha!" He threw one at Connor and grabbed his Beretta to get it ready. Eunice was making her way back to them as well and made it very clear  
that they didn't have much time at all. She was just about five meters away from them when they were done and got up.

"Ready?" Connor asked and Murphy nodded. They were walking backwards again, just to keep their distance. They weren't walking so fast this time because they wanted  
Eunice to come closer so they could take better aim. Now that they were ready they didn't say the prayer at once though. They took their time to look at their friend,  
talk to her once more, fight their urge not to do it. They had never shot a _friend_ before. This was very different to their usual killings.

"'m sorry Eunice." Murphy murmured and they both knew that it was time.

"And shepherds we shall be, For Thee, my Lord, for Thee."

Eunice was still growling and staggering but their guns followed her movement, staying fixed on her head.

"Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command."

It looked like she was especially interested in Murphy, because she was walking in his direction and staring at him with her wide grey eyes. _  
I'm glad you're still alive Murphy. The things I've seen..Years of training and I still wasn't prepared for _that_._ Murphy swallowed and tried not to think about it.  
_This isn't Eunice anymore. 's just a walker. _He kept repeating these words in his head but even that wouldn't help. He still felt like he was betraying their friend.  
Christ, she had _trusted_ them.

"So we shall flow a river forth to Thee And teeming with souls shall it ever be."

He didn't even need to tell Connor. The older MacManus knew what his twin was feeling and thinking, they were two halves of a whole.  
They were feeling and thinking the exact same thing. And as always, whenever they were in situations like that, he felt the urge to make it easier for Murphy.  
Being twins and not really knowing who was the older he could expect his brother to make it easier for _him_, because god lord how much he wanted  
someone to take that gut wrenching pain away, but somehow he had accepted it as _his_ job. So he placed a hand on Murphy's shoulder and squeezed  
it gently to let him know. _I know. I know it's hard, but I'm here. We're in this together._

"In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti."

Two bullets hit Eunice head. She was thrown back and fell to the ground.


	8. Belief

New chapter! They will be leaving the stadium soon =) I promise that there will be more brotherly feels and talk and interaction in later chapters.  
In the first couple of chapters I really just wanted to focus on what this kind of global breakdown and mass dying does to a person, does to religious good people like the twins.

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 8 - Belief

* * *

For a while they just sat there and stared at the bodies that were lying on the baseball field. Neither Connor nor Murphy wanted to talk. Even if they wanted to, they had  
no idea what to say. Connor searched his pockets for a cigarette pack after a while, and when he found it he lit two smokes and gave one to Murphy. Every once in  
a while the younger MacManus would look at Eunice's body to their left. She was still lying where she had fallen to the ground, with arms crossed over her chest and two  
pennies in her eyes. He sighed and turned his head again. He didn't want to look at what they had done any longer. Didn't want to see another corpse lying there.  
The moans outside were getting louder. They were sure that the walkers had picked up their trail. Or god knows how these things worked and how they knew where  
to find them. He knew that they couldn't sit here forever.

"What should we do now?" he asked quietly and Connor sighed. He rubbed his left eye and shrugged.

"Keep going I guess."

"City center?"

Connor nodded. "Aye. Boats. Just like Eunice said."

"How do we get there?"

"Mass Pike."

He turned around to search their bags for the map. Murphy grabbed one end and Connor pointed at the stadium on the map.

"We're here. Boylston Street's there, and that's blocked. I bet that every single road heading east will be barricaded, just like every single fuckin road we've been on.  
I read something about Mass Ave being used as border, so I guess we gotta find a way t'get past that. Best chance's gotta be Mass Pike. There's bridges we could use  
to cross the blockades, there's fences to each side maybe someone left their keys in their car and we can gettit."

He looked at the wrist watch he had taken with him.

"I guess sun won't be up fer too long now, so we definitively need to hurry. I don't wanna spend another night out in the open with all those fuckers surrounding us.  
Sounds like more and more are coming here, and I don't wanna get surrounded. We need t'get to the safe zone. We have ta thank god that we're not too far away fram it.  
Just imagine how long it would've taken us to get there from our old apartment."

Murphy nodded and looked at the map. After a moment he pointed at Kenmore subway station.

"What about te T? We could try t'get to the other side underground."

Connor snorted.

"Don't be silly Murph. There's no way we're going down there. God knows how many of those fuckers are down there. Besides, we don't know when they cut us off  
from the big power stations and we're running outta electricity. There's no way I'm running around in a fuckin dark tunnel surrounded by walkers.  
And I bet that they locked them up, we don't even know how t'get in and outta there."

Murphy sighed and blew out some smoke. Then he pointed at the bodies.

"What about down there, should we go there and check the tents fer stuff?"

Connor looked down as well and chewed on his lower lip.  
"I don't know. Could be pretty fuckin dangerous. We've got no idea how many of them are down there either."

He looked at Murphy's machete and tilted his head.

"On the other hand, maybe there's more weapons down there? We can't just stick to the guns and machete. We need another one, or something similar to it.  
Maybe even a fuckin baseball bat."

The younger MacManus nodded.

"So we are we going down there?"

Connor nodded after a moment. "Aye. Aye, we're going down there."

* * *

Connor was sure that if they didn't die because of walkers attacking them the stench would kill them for sure. Because it was absolutely awful.  
Sometimes they had to stop walking down the stairs to cover their mouths and noses, because the further down they went the more intense the smell got.  
They had always thought that they had gotten used to the smell of dead people by now, they had killed dozens of them after all and it sure wasn't the first time  
they saw a body. But they had never been near a corpse that was rotting away. They didn't really know for how long all those bodies had been lying there,  
but some of them must have been brought there right when the outbreak had started. When they finally reached ground level and made their way through the  
temporary graveyard Connor retched, but he knew that there was no way they could stop to take a breath now. Because a) they didn't know how many of these people  
underneath all those blankets and inside all those body bags were walkers that could grab their feet any minute now and b) it wasn't like there was any fresh air there  
that would give them the chance to feel better anyway.

"fucking disgusting" Connor heard his brother murmur behind him and hushed him.

"Shattup, we don't know how many af those things are down here, keep quiet!"

Murphy crossed himself and murmured a quick prayer. He was clinging to his rosary with his one hand. _Don't leave us alone now.  
_He prayed because for the first time in his life he was actually really scared. Because Connor was right. God knows how many of them were walkers.  
What if they were just dormant? What if they all decided to get up at once? They would be outnumbered. It would be a bloody _massacre_.  
He thanked god that the tents weren't on the other side of the field.

Connor was the first to reach one of the tents and signaled his brother to get to the other side of the entrance to cover him.  
The blonde looked at his twin and reached out for the machete.

"Gimme the machete. I'm gonna go in there and see if there's any useful stuff, ye take yer guns and cover me in case shit goes down."

Murphy eyed him nervously and turned around to see if any of the bodies were moving.

"Are ye sure about that? I say we should just get te fuck outta here Connor."

"Don't be such a fuckin baby about it, we're here now, aren't we? We gotta take all the shit we can carry, we might need it, ye've just seen it.  
What if one af those fuckers bites ye and I've got nothing t'take care af ye?"

Murphy growled. "No one's gonna fucking bite me, now hurry up!"

He turned around again to keep an eye on all the bodies. God, they made him feel paranoid.  
Connor entered the tent as slowly and quietly as he could. It was pretty hard to keep an eye on everything, since the tent itself was divided into different sections  
by thin plastic walls and medical equipment and beds. It was even more chaos inside the tent than outside. Some of the beds were turned over and there was blood  
and medical waste everywhere. Connor found a few bandages and pills, but there was no sign of any other useful things.

"Connor?" he heard Murphy whisper outside and turned around.

"'s alright Murph. Looks empty."

He searched the whole tent, now a bit more confident since he was all alone in there and no walkers seemed to be around. He still thought it was rather odd.  
_Why were some of the beds turned over and why was there so much blood if there weren't any walkers around? Had they left?  
_He got out of the tent and looked at his brother.

"Found a few bandages and stuff. But other than that. Stuff sure is weird. I don't know what the fuck's going on here. I mean te place looks abandoned,  
but inside it's fuckin chaos. Like shit went down."

Both twins looked at each other, then Murphy sighed. "Let's just check the other tents and get te fuck outta here."

* * *

There were three smaller tents and one bigger tent left. The twins decided to take turns, one brother going inside and searching for useful equipment,  
the other brother waiting outside and keeping an eye on the stadium. The longer they stayed on the baseball field the more paranoid they got.  
They felt so _surrounded _and vulnerable all of the sudden. Because this was so very different. Connor and Murphy had always been quite confident and optimistic.  
They had never really feared any of the mobsters they had taken on, no matter how many of them had been there. _But this?_  
They had absolutely no clue how many enemies they had now. It could be the whole of Boston. And even they knew that they weren't invincible.  
Once again they were aware of what the other was feeling, and Connor would have loved to talk to make it a bit easier for them. maybe joke around,  
make fun of Murphy, but he knew that they _shouldn't _talk down here. It was the new unspoken law. Don't make any noise. Don't let them see or hear you or you're dead.

As Connor kept watch outside and waited for Murphy to return his mind started drifting, trying to work through all the things, questions and worries he had been ignoring so far.  
It would be getting dark in a couple of hours and they needed a place to stay. _Where should they go? What was on the other side of that barricade? What if there was no safe zone?  
What if there weren't any survivors left in this city? What if Boston had been abandoned? What if there was no military, what if there weren't any boats?_

He tried to stay positive. Of course there were boats. Of course everything was going to be okay, he just needed to believe in it. But still, he couldn't fight that nagging,  
that feeling, that fear that was slowly eating him up: _What if?_

"Connor!" Murphy whisper-shouted and snapped his brother out of it. Connor startled and turned around to look at the bodies again, then he entered the tent as well.  
Murphy was standing at the far end of the tent, by some of the last beds. The blonde twin moved faster when he heard another noise.

"Well fuck me" Connor murmured when he saw why his brother had called him.

There was a nurse lying in one of the beds, with her arms cuffed to the armrest.  
Or more like someone that had _used_ to be a nurse. The woman in front of them was nothing else but a growling and moaning tired heap of rotting flesh with a bloody bite  
wound where her left cheek had used to be. Both twins just watched her for a moment. Once again they had to learn that there weren't just walkers, as Eunice  
had called them, it looked like there were different types of them. The majority of them being the slow and clumsy ones, but there were the more aggressive and faster  
ones like Eunice had been, and now there was this nurse. Of course, she still looked terrifying like this, with her teeth being visible through the bite wound and all the blood  
and her skin tone and eyes, but other than that she just looked sick and tired. She was moving very slowly. Even her groans and moans didn't sound as animalistic  
and aggressive as the others. She was still trying to get them, but her whole existence just seemed...pitiable.

Murphy breathed in sharply when he saw her necklace - a cross.  
So maybe she had been one of them after all. A believer. God's child. He imagined her praying for assistance and forgiveness, for their father, just like _he_ was doing it  
all the time now. And she was _still_ one of them, had been turned into _this_. It made him feel sick. He struck the machete down so it was stuck in the ground and left the tent.

Connor watched his brother leave. He wanted to say something, comfort him and tell him that everything was going to be ok, but right now, once again,  
he didn't feel like it himself. Because it made him angry as well. Connor looked back at the moving and growling woman, saw the necklace dancing and moving between her  
breasts. For another second he felt sorry for her and pitied her, but then the anger took over. The anger and hatred. Hellspawns had turned the body, that had once been  
home of this woman's soul, into this. He reminded himself that this wasn't the woman anymore, the believer. Whoever she had been, that woman was dead. Gone.  
To be with the lord. Because he worked in mysterious ways, right? He sure had his reasons to take her with him. It had happened to other innocent people before.  
Before the dead had risen. Back in their days when they had punished their murderers with bullets to their heads for taking a child's life, for raping women and corrupting  
people. This poor soul had been murdered. This was exactly the same. The only difference? Her murderer was inhabiting her body now. Because this disease was  
her murderer, because this disease made her body walk. So it was his job to punish her murderer. Just like he had always done.

_Somebody should go kill those motherfuckers. Kill them all._

Connor just glared at the woman, then he grabbed Murphy's machete and killed her.

He watched her taking her last breath, saw the blood slowly drenching the bed sheet until it started dropping down with a constant _plop. plop._  
When the blood was just about to touch the cross on her necklace the Irishman decided to take it away from her. _Such a creature did not deserve to wear this._  
Her soul was long since gone, god knows for how long. There was no point in asking for redemption now, was it? How were they supposed to put all those souls  
to rest now anyway? It would be impossible to give them all pennies and say the prayer every time they killed someone. This wasn't working anymore.  
From now on they needed new rules. They had to accept that these walkers weren't souls, neither were they people or worth redemption. These things were creatures  
from hell itself, and they did not deserve to wear symbols of the lord. Connor took the necklace and looked at it, then he wiped its surface with his thumb because there  
were tiny, almost invisible blood splatters on it. Once he had made sure that it was clean and shiny he put it in his trouser pocket, turned around and left the  
tent without looking back.


	9. Darkness

**Retribution**

Chapter 9 - Darkness

* * *

When Connor stepped outside he saw his brother sitting on the ground in front of the tent , staring at the bodies in front of him.  
Connor stopped right next to him and looked at Murphy.

"Did ye kill her?" his younger half murmured after a moment and the older twin nodded.

"Aye."

Murphy nodded. "Good. Sorry I stormed outta the tent all af the sudden."

Connor put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.  
"'s alright Murph."

The dark haired twin looked up to face his brother. "Let's just get te fuck outta this place, aye?"

Connor nodded and looked up to see the top of the stadium, then he turned around so he could face the side where Mass Pike was located.  
"Maybe we should see how bad it is over there first. I reckon we go back up there and check the situation."

Murphy growled. "Fucking stairs" he murmured and got up. Connor smirked.

"We could use some rope and..."

"Don't get me started on yer stupid fuckin rope" Murphy interrupted him and glared at Connor. He wanted to be mad at him, simply because whenever he just heard the word  
"rope" it made him go crazy, but right now this was one of the rare moments where it actually made him smile. He knew that Connor was just having him on and truth was  
that they didn't really had much else to laugh about these days, so he smirked and nudged his brother. The other twin chuckled and went after him. They had just reached  
the stairs when Connor suddenly nudged Murphy and asked him to stop. The darkhaired twin turned around and frowned. His brother was pointing at one of the dark  
entrances that led to the rooms that were located underneath the grandstand.

"Now what do ye think's down there?"

Murphy raised an eyebrow. "Darkness, baseball player walkers, old sweaty jerseys?"

Connor just looked at the entrance and seemed lost in thoughts for a moment.  
"We took the flashlights with us, didn't we?"

Murphy rolled his eyes.  
"There's no way 'm going in there, this is fucking ridiculous Connor!"

"Ye know what is fucking ridiculous? That we've gotta share one machete and that we haven't got much ammo and our guns are fuckin loud.  
We need something else. And I'm thinking there's gotta be baseball bats and shit down there, this is a fuckin baseball stadium!"

"Haven't we watched enough fuckin horror films ta know that yer not sapposed to enter fucking scary and dark places when shit goes down?  
Stuff like this is ridiculously dangerous and ye know it!"

Connor shoved his brother.  
"Don't be such a fuckin princess Murph. This isn't a horror movie, this is _real. _Maybe it is dangerous, but so is going out there with no useful weapons!"

Murphy shoved him back and growled.  
"You and yer stupid plans all the time! Don't you fuckin tell me that this isn't a movie. I know how fucked up everything is!" the younger spat and glared at his brother.  
Connor just glared back at him, then he snorted and headed for the entrance. He hated how much they fought these days, it wasn't like them to really do that and _mean _it.

"Come on, let's go. 's gonna be all right, I've got yer back" he tried to calm his brother down. He just didn't want to fight any longer.

It was so dark inside that even with their flashlights they could hardly see a thing.  
Their first reflex had been to use the light switch, but of course it wouldn't work. They figured that either the power must have been switched off by someone, or maybe  
there was a complete blackout in Boston altogether. Back in Ireland they didn't have any power on their farm either, so they didn't really mind the lack of electricity  
as much as others would do, but right now they would've prefered some light. Because this whole scenario was worse than any horror film they had ever watched.  
Because this was_ real_. Connor cursed his imagination and brain, because he imagined all sorts of things that could be happening to them any second, and he wanted  
to punch himself for his stupid plans. No matter how much he hated to admit that his brother was right, even he had to admit that his plan was fucking _stupid_.  
Pretty soon they could hear noises coming from somewhere in front of them, and on the ground there was more and more blood until the light hit a bloody arm  
that looked like someone had used it as his chew toy. Connor groaned and pulled a face in disgust.  
"Jesus fuckin christ" he murmured and forwent it as good as he could. When Murphy saw the arm he reacted the exact same way, except that he cursed a whole lot more  
and murmured "I fucking hate you." Connor knew that it was directed at him, but he didn't want to get in yet another fight and make any noise, since he was pretty sure  
there were some walkers somewhere close to them.

They finally reached the changing rooms. There was blood everywhere and once again it smelled _awful_, maybe even worse than outside. Murphy suddenly bumped into Connor  
and cursed, then he hit his shoulder nervously and animated his brother to turn around. "Connor, look left, look fuckin left!" he demanded and his twin did as he was told.  
He pointed his flashlight to his left and startled when he saw a figure sitting there on the floor, head down and surrounded by a pool of blood. It looked like he was a policeman  
and when Connor examined him he saw that the man was holding another machete in his one hand and a bunch of keys in the other.

"I think he's dead" the blonde said and Murphy snorted.

"How the fuck would ye know?"

Connor slowly approached the supposedly dead body and chewed on his bottom lip.

"Just reckon he'd have attacked us by now, don't ye think?"

He pointed the flashlight right at the figure's face and moved his hand up and down.

"Nah, I think he's dead."

The blonde turned around to look at his brother. "Gimme the machete just in..."

He yelped in surprise when the not-so-quite-dead cop suddenly grabbed him by his arm and started growling and snarling.

"Get te fuck off me ye asshole!" Connor yelled and tried to fight his grip.

"Connor!" Murphy shouted and ran for his brother. At first he tried to pull his twin away from the walker, but when it was just about to bite Connor's arm the younger let go  
of his brother and attacked the monster with his machete instead. He was so shocked and furious and scared that he started screaming and shouting at the walker, and he  
wouldn't stop stabbing him with the machete until he managed to cut his arm off. Connor gasped in surprise and fell back down. He fell right into the puddle of blood with  
a loud and disgusting splash, then he watched his brother fight the walker in horror. His twin looked like an animal for a second, even worse than any walker he had  
seen before. The way he kept yelling and cursing and stabbing the monster like he was some sack of meat. The walker responded with just the same animalistic  
snarls and screams, until it cut off abruptly when Murphy hit his head.

Both twins were panting heavily and when Murphy turned around to look at his brother, Connor saw that his face was covered in blood from the fight.  
Back in the old days, when they had been caught by Yakavetta and got tortured in his cellar, Murphy had also looked like this. Connor had never wanted to see  
his brother's face like this ever again, so it was even worse right now. Murphy wiped the blood off his face with the sleeve of his pea coat and turned around to  
look at the body in front of him. The older twin was just about to wipe his face as well when he noticed that the bloody hand was still wrapped around his wrist.  
The arm his brother had just cut off. Connor gasped and tried to get it off and once he did he threw it as far away as possible. When he looked back at his twin  
he saw that his younger half was kneeling next to the bloody remains of the cop he had just slaughtered and after just looking at his victim for a moment he  
grabbed the machete the walker had dropped and got back up. He approached Connor and handed it to him.

"Here you've got yer fucking weapon, yah happy now, asshole?!"

The blonde twin took it and tried to get up.

"Murph, I..."  
Loud banging to their right interrupted the older twin mid-sentence. Both brothers turned around in surprise only to see the door to the men's changing rooms shaking violently.  
Apart from the loud banging and creaking of the door they could also hear the steady and angry growling and moaning of what sounded like quite an amount of walkers.  
Connor and Murphy looked at the shaking door in horror, then they started walking backwards. The blonde twin placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and swallowed.

"I think we know why Mr Walker-cop's got fuckin keys in his hands and died right here." he said and Murphy looked at the bloody corpse.  
The keys were still lying on the ground right next to it. The dark haired twin nodded and swallowed as well.

"Aye" he managed to say and looked at Connor in horror. His twin did the same and nodded.

"I think we should get te fuck outta here _right now_."

"Aye" Murphy said again.

The twins looked at each other just a bit longer.  
When another loud bang made the door shake violently and they could hear a dangerous creaking of the door they turned around and started running.


	10. Mass Pike

And another new chapter! They're leaving the stadium! Finally! Lol! But christ, I really think the boys need a break. I'm a horrible writer.  
What am I doing to them here? Shame on me! :D

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 10 - Mass Pike

Once they were back outside and standing on the baseball field both twins turned around and pointed their machetes at the dark entrance.  
They could hear the loud banging and groaning coming from inside, but it sounded like the walkers hadn't managed to get through yet. Connor and Murphy were still out of  
breath because of the fight and all the running, but they didn't want to waste another second on just standing there and catching breath. Connor pointed at the massive  
green wall to their right, the north wall of the stadium that was known as "the Green Monster" amongst football players and fans.

"Mass Pike's this way, there's gotta be another entrance" the blonde twin said and started running in that direction.  
Murphy followed him reluctantly, and he wouldn't stop turning around so he could see when the walkers managed to get out of their prison. As soon as they reached  
the very end of the grandstand Connor changed direction and started running up the stairs. Murphy saw another door at the very end of the stadium, right next to  
the Green Monster, which made him stop running for a moment. He watched his brother running up the stairs and shouted his name. He pointed at the door.

"What about that, this gotta be a fuckin way out! We can't stay here!" he yelled and Connor stopped running.

"There's gotta be another exit up here, I see stairs! And I fuckin told ye, we gotta check fer walkers first!  
We can't just run outta here without knowing what's on the other side!"

Murphy figured that his brother was pretty much right, but he still hated the idea of staying any second longer inside this stadium. They had no clue how many walkers  
were down there, and it sure wouldn't take them long to get out. The banging got louder and louder and it was a constant reminder that their time was running out.  
Murphy shifted the weight of his duffel bag from one shoulder to the next and ran after his brother, up the stairs, heading right for the massive Coca Cola sign  
on top of the stadium roof.

* * *

Once again they could clearly see the Prudential building, 111 Huntington Ave and Hancock Place. There was a massive black cloud of smoke coming from the city center,  
and it was even worse further west and south. If it really was as bad over there as Eunice had told them, then they could be pretty sure that there wouldn't be any  
firefighters taking care of all that smoke and fire any time soon. They could see a couple of walkers roaming down Lansdowne street in front of the stadium, but it didn't look  
as bad as on the other side where they had entered Fenway Park. Murphy remembered all the fences, tents and cars that were blocking Brookline Ave on the other side,  
and although it had been hard for them to cross that as well, now he thanked god that there was this sort of barricade preventing that herd they had crossed path with  
earlier from getting close to Mass Pike.

The interstate was another problem. They could see it perfectly fine from where they were standing, and once again it looked like their luck had left them.  
No matter in which direction they looked, the road was crowded with abandoned cars. Even the left side of the interstate, which was heading away from the city center,  
was clogged with vehicles that had been heading east where the safe zone was supposed to be. The dark haired twin looked at his brother and waited for him  
to say something, but Connor was busy trying to figure out how they could possibly get away from the stadium. He walked to the very end of the platform until he reached  
the flight of stairs that led back down to the road, then he looked up again to stare at the Prudential building and Mass Pike. There was a giant FedEx truck below,  
and it would make it easier for them to get down without having to go back down and exit the stadium through one of its gates. Connor's mind was racing once again  
as he tried to come up with a plan. They could still hear the loud banging coming from inside the stadium and the constant groaning and moaning everywhere  
was slowly driving the older MacManus insane.

"Can't they just shut the fuck up?!" he growled and glared all the walkers on the streets. How much he hated all the inhuman sounds they were making.  
He looked at his brother after a moment and sighed.

"Alright. Still think Mass Pike's our best option. I say we jump down on te truck, make our way across the street and down that little passage over there right next to tha bar.  
We go down, climb the fence and stay on the rails. I don't think there'll be a train coming any time soon. It's gotta be no more than two or five kilometers til we reach the Pru,  
and I bet there's military and police and all that shit on the other side. Right now I don't even care about them arresting us anymore, I just wanna get the fuck outta here."

He leaned over the railing to see if there were any walkers behind the truck, and when he looked back up he caught Murphy with a cigarette in his hand.  
The younger twin was just about to light it up when Connor grabbed his hand and shook his head.

"Now's not the time Murph, we gotta go, and I bet we need both hands down there, ye gotta focus."

Murphy growled and put his cigarette away. "I just need a fuckin break" he murmured and followed his brother down the stairs.

* * *

They climbed over the railing and jumped on top of the truck, and once they were outside their mood changed abruptly.  
The hour they had spent inside the stadium had been both exhausting and easier. Exhausting because they had lost Eunice, seen all those bodies and been attacked  
by an undead policeman, and easier because there hadn't really been _that _many walkers and because there had been walls protecting them from their environment.  
Now that they were back outside and running around with nothing but a couple of guns, little ammo and two machetes, they felt vulnerable, and it was the uncertainty  
that was driving them insane.

Connor was the first to climb down the truck, and once he was back on the road he had to kill another walker that was getting dangerously close.  
He could count about 10 to 20 more walkers down the road and thanked god that they had decided not to follow it any longer. He waited for his brother to come down  
the truck as well, and once they were both down on the road they started running towards the small passage between the bar that was called "Cask'n Flagon" and  
a parking garage. They climbed over the gate and made their way down, and when they reached the very end of the building next to them both twins stopped for a moment.  
Connor pointed to his brother's right to make him understand that he was supposed to check whether it was clear whereas he checked their left. No matter how much  
they fought these days, when it came down to this, whether it was a mission or running from something, they were always a very good team, and they could most certainly  
count on each other. Once they had made sure that there were no walkers on either side of the rails Murphy looked at his brother and whistled to get his attention.  
Connor turned his head and looked at his brother questioningly.

"Why don't we just check the parking garage fer a car?" Murphy whispered and Connor frowned.

"Have ye seen the roads? There's traffic jams everywhere, cars are fuckin useless."

The younger MacManus raised his eyebrows, but nodded after a moment. "Sappose yer right" he said and Connor nodded as well.

"Af course I am. Come on, let's go" the older responded and nudged his brother.

* * *

They followed the rails right next to the interstate 90 in silence. Connor was walking close to the road and kept an eye on all the abandoned cars and wrecks,  
whereas Murphy made sure that no walkers would come out of the warehouses and buildings to their right. They could see the three iconic skyscrapers right in front of them,  
getting closer and closer. For the first time since they had left their apartment they could actually take a deep breath and just walk without any walkers attacking them  
all the time. Every once in a while Connor would discover a person in one of the cars, but most of the time it were just dead people. Sometimes there were walkers  
still sitting inside some of the cars but they were unable to get out and attack since their seatbelts were still attached and locked. It looked like they really were  
too stupid to free themselves, and although it looked pathetic and a little bit upsetting neither of the twins would waste a minute on actually killing them. They weren't  
dangerous like this, so killing them was just a waste of energy and time. The MacManus twins kept going for quite a bit, and although they had to keep low and hide every  
once in a while because of stray walkers roaming down the interstate, there weren't too many dangers on this route. Murphy was getting used to the whole scenario  
quite easily, and pretty soon he felt comfortable and confident enough to start talking. Not only because the eerie silence , apart from the moans and groans from  
the walkers of course, was driving him insane, but also because whenever he had been talking to his brother during the last couple of hours  
they had just been yelling at each other.

"Do ye think they're actually aware of what's happening ta them?" the younger MacManus asked quietly and his twin looked up.

"What?"

Murphy shrugged and hit one of the bushes they were passing with his machete.  
"Do ye think they know what they are, who they are and what is happening t'them. The walkers I mean."

Connor snorted and eyed one of the cars where he could see another body. "Why d'ye ask?"

"I don't know. Just trying ta figure out if they're still people or just fuckin monsters we're killin here."

The blonde twin sighed and looked at his brother.  
"Whatever the fuck they are, Murph, they're no good people. Good people don't try ta kill you. Good people would never attack their friends."

Murphy remembered the look on Eunice's face and how she had tried to kill them without ever stopping or listening to them. "Aye" he murmured and looked to their right  
when they passed an old brick building. There was a massive billboard on top of it, with a poster advertising beer. The younger MacManus sighed.

"Christ, what I'd do fer a pint or a shot."

Connor chuckled and grinned at his brother.  
"We could make a detour, go to McGinty's say hello to Doc."

Murphy smirked. "Aye, good idea brother."

Both twins chuckled and shared their favourite Doc stories for a bit, but when they came across another bunch of bodies on the road their mood changed again.

"Do ye think Doc's still alive?" Murphy asked as they stopped walking and looked at the bodies.

Connor just looked at the bodies and pressed his lips together. He frowned and shook his head. "I don't know Murph" he said and decided to get a closer look.  
Of course he knew that their old friend stood little chance of surviving something like _this. _All their other friends had died as well. Smecker. Eunice. Duffy. Dolly.  
They were all dead. So why should Doc survive this? Why should anyone survive this? He had never been a pessimist, but it was so hard to stay positive these days.  
He knew one thing for sure though, there was no way he would pull his brother down with him. And maybe lying made it easier. Speaking the truth, that their  
beloved friend could be dead as well, would make it final and he didn't want to lose that last spark of hope, that maybe someone was still alive, that maybe it  
was going to be ok. Connor approached the bodies on the road and stopped when he saw a woman lying there on the ground with a baby in her arms.  
When he took a closer look he saw that the woman had been shot in the head.

"Christ" Connor said and knelt down next to them. Murphy came closer as well so he could stand right to his brother and look at the dead family.  
The blonde MacManus carefully placed a hand on the small bundle that was still lying in the woman's arms and pulled the blanket down. It wasn't the first time they both saw  
a baby up close. Back in Ireland they had known a woman with a baby from church. They both had always loved kids, how happy and loud they were. The child they were  
looking at now was nothing but a small bundle of rotting flesh, its face nothing but a terrifying grimace. It looked like the baby had died screaming, but no one had answered  
its calls for help. Connor let go of the blanket and got up with an angry growl.

"Dead?" Murphy asked and his brother nodded.

"Aye."

The younger MacManus growled as well.  
"Fuck."

"'m gettin fuckin sick af this shit man" Connor murmured and started walking again. Murphy just stood there for a little longer and looked at the bodies,  
then he closed his eyes and murmured a quick prayer. Connor noticed that his brother wasn't following him and stopped to see where he was. When he saw  
Murphy standing there head down, with his hands clutching to his rosary and mumbling a prayer for the family, Connor just waited. Right now he didn't feel like praying,  
and he knew that it would be too dangerous to just stand there with eyes closed and not watching their enviroment. He had to watch his brother's back anyway,  
so he just waited for him to finish. When Murphy was done and looked back up he crossed himself and so did Connor. Now that he had time to think about it,  
it actually made him wonder if they would ever be able to go to church again. Christ, he really wanted to go to church. They _needed_ to go to church.  
36 years and the only ever had missed church when they had been in prison. _How was this supposed to work now?_  
Murphy sighed and turned his back on the dead family to catch up with his brother.

* * *

The Prudential was about half a mile away so they didn't want to stay on this side of the barricades for too long.  
They didn't speak after everything they had just seen and now that the cover to their right was gone and another street, Ipswich Street, was right next to them,  
they did not dare making any noise anyway. They were dangerously close to the spot were Connor had attracted that herd to them a couple of hours ago, right where  
the barricade that had cut them off from where Richardson bridge was. They were now approaching Bowker Overpass and when they got closer they had to realize  
that there was _another _barricade.

"Shit" Connor said when they were about 100 yards away from the overpass and saw the police cars and fences that reached up to the very top of the bridge.

"You've gotta be fuckin kidding me" Murphy said and looked at the barricade, trying to find a hole, a door or some sort of way through.  
Both twins stopped walking for a moment and just looked at the construction that was keeping them _out_ of the safe zone.  
Out and locked up with all those _things _surrounding them.

"How the fuck are people sapposed ta get to the fuckin boats if there's no one here telling them were ta go and letting them in?!" Murphy complained.  
He started shaking the fence when they finally reached it. Connor started walking up and down the fence to see if he could see an entrance. There weren't any cars  
on the other side of the fence. They couldn't see any walkers either.

"Well, people must've gotten in or else there wouldn't be so many abandoned cars here, aye?" the older MacManus concluded and turned around to look at all the cars.  
He could see a couple of walkers who had followed them but other than that there was absolutely nothing. No police. No military. No survivors.

"Where the fuck is everyone?" he murmured and turned around again to look at the fence. It was shaking violently because Murphy wouldn't stop kicking and shaking it.

"Hello? Anybody? We're still over here, let us the fuck in!" he yelled and got more and more angry. It was pissing him off how they were getting so close to the safe zone  
all the time, but whenever it looked like they could almost touch the Prudential or any of the other buildings there were fences in their way.

"Eh yah fuckers, where the fuck are ye, let us in!"

"Murphy!" Connor shouted and grabbed his twin by his shoulders to get him away from the fence.

"There's walkers everywhere, do ye wanna attract another one af those herds?! Get a fuckin hold af yerself!"  
As if to emphasize this they could hear a very dangerous sounding growl coming from the bushes to their right.

"I fuckin know! But if they can hear us, then ye can bet yer ass that the military can hear us as well! Just look at this fuckin place over there, there's no walkers, no cars.."

"No nothing!" Connor interrupted his brother and pointed at the safe zone.

"They're not here anymore, maybe they took everyone to the cruise terminal, maybe they abandoned this section, maybe there's checkpoints further east, I don't fuckin know!  
As fer now we gotta concentrate and see how we're gonna get over this fuckin bridge without attracting another shitload af walkers to this place.  
And yer screamin ain't helpin any!"

Murphy growled and shook his brother off. He hated how right his twin was, and he hated how he could do absolutely _nothing_ about it.  
And now he was supposed to keep quiet and keep all the shit to himself? Keep it together? He just wanted to do what he could do best: fight his way out of it.  
Kick and yell at the fences until they gave in and fell down. He turned his back on his brother and headed back to the rails and the road right next to the interstate  
to see if there was a way out over there. When he got closer to the fence that was seperating Mass Pike from Ipswich Street a strange humming sound made him slow down.  
A moment later the bushes and trees on top of the southern wall started shaking. Murphy turned around to see where Connor was. His twin was busy checking  
the situation on the other side of the interstate, so the younger turned around again to look up at where he could see the trees shaking and heard that strange noise.  
He tried to get closer and frowned. For a moment he just stood there and watched. Just when he wanted to blame the wind and his paranoia a pair of bloody hands grabbed  
the fence on top of the wall and started shaking it. More and more hands came into view and did the same thing, and now that they came closer Murphy finally realised _what_  
he was hearing. It wasn't just a strange humming sound, but another loud murmuring and groaning of a herd of walkers that was getting closer and closer. He could hear  
all sorts of footsteps. Clumsy, fast, dragging, but determined nevertheless. Soon all sorts of figures pressed their bodies and faces against the fence and started snapping  
at the younger MacManus, which made him walk backwards. He watched them in horror as they kept shaking and fighting the fence, trying to get their newest prey.

"Connor?" Murphy finally managed to say but his voice lacked strength and volume since he was absolutely terrified. He turned around to see where his brother was,  
but Connor was still fiddling about with something on the opposite wall and didn't seem to have noticed any of this. The darkhaired twin growled and turned around once more  
to look at that massive herd that was piling up on the fence that was shaking _violently _now. He could watch it giving in under the enormous weight.

"Connor!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and finally got his brothers attention. The older twin looked up to see why his other half was screaming down  
the neighbourhood again, and when he saw what was going on he widened his eyes in shock. "Murph! Run!" he responded, but his screams were drowned out  
when the fence gave in with a loud metallic shriek and the herd rained down the wall like tin soldiers a kid was carelessly wiping off a table.


	11. The Wall

New chapter! I don't even know if there's still people out there reading my stuff :D No reviews and everything, but I don't really care because I'm still having way too much fun with this fic.  
So I'm just gonna keep updating, doesn't matter if I get reviews and views or not this time :D

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 11 - The Wall

* * *

He didn't know what was worse - watching a giant herd of walkers coming and falling down the southern wall of the interstate like an unholy army of the undead,  
or running from them without knowing _where_ they were supposed to run. Bowker Overpass was completely locked down, and there was no way they could get over the fences.  
Once again they had to turn their backs on their only way out, their only hope that was the city center, and for the first time Connor actually doubted that they were ever  
going to get there. He saw Murphy running right in front of him, zigzagging his way through all the car wrecks and jumping over all sorts of luggage and thrash._  
Christ, when had the kid become so fucking agile? And why was he the first to feel that they weren't 20 anymore? _Right now he hated to be the older brother.  
Minutes felt like decades right now. Or maybe he was just imagining things. Could you blame him right now?

Since the walkers were way slower than them Murphy pretty much outran any walker that emerged from the cars he passed on his way down the interstate, so it came down  
to Connor to kill them. It slowed him down so much that he feared that they could surround him and since Murphy kept running he also feared that he could lose his brother  
because of all this chaos surrounding them. He had told him to run, hadn't he? But still, why the _fuck _had they chosen the interstate?!

"Murph! Murph, wait fer me!" the older MacManus yelled as he killed yet another walker, a female that was dressed in a doctor's overall.  
He saw how Murphy turned around to look at him, and although Connor was glad to see that his twin was waiting for him pretty soon that sort of relief turned into pure horror  
when he saw a walker behind him. "MURPH! BEHIND YAH!" he yelled and shoved another walker away to run and help his brother. The dark haired twin gasped when a walker  
grabbed him from behind, but his instincts kicked in and he leaned forward, grabbed the undead by his arm and pulled him over his shoulder with an angry growl.  
When Connor finally reached him Murphy struck the walker down with a blow to his head. The blonde MacManus grabbed his younger half by his shoulders  
and looked at him in shock.

"Fuck, are ye alright? Did he bite you?" He felt Murphy's chest, arms and neck only to find nothing.

"No, but I found us a way out!" the other announced and pointed at the wall next to them.

They had run back a couple of hundred yards down the interstate, and the surrounding noise protection walls had gradually gotten lower so they could see what was  
on the other side. There was another street and a small passage between two houses led somewhere further north. "What?!" Connor shouted and frowned, then he  
turned around to look where the herd was. He swallowed and wished that he hadn't looked at them. Because there were _many_. The older twin didn't know if it were just  
the cars that made them look like they were one giant crowd, but it sure looked like it were hundreds upon hundreds of them. What was even worse was that he could  
still see walkers raining down that wall where they had managed to break through. It just wouldn't stop. _Was the whole of freaking Boston coming after them now?  
_Murphy hit his shoulder and snapped him out of it.

"The fuckin wall! We climb over it and try to make our way back East further North! Sooner or later we just gotta find a way over there, christ,  
even if he have ta jump into the river!" the younger explained so fast that Connor could hardly get what his brother was saying.

And yet again they were practically yelling at each other, simply because they were panicking and the walkers were getting closer and so loud that they could hardly hear  
a thing apart from never ending miserable groans and terrifying snarls and squeals. Murphy suddenly put both his hands on Connor's shoulders and tried to get him to kneel.

"Hurry, gimme a boost!"

The blonde brother grunted, but did as he was told.  
He helped Murphy to climb up the wall, but couldn't keep the grunts and awkward noises to himself as he tried to keep his younger half steady.

"Christ, when did ye get so fuckin heavy?" he complained, and once Murphy was standing on the wall and clinging to the fence on top of it he turned his head to look back  
down at his brother and the walkers. He widened his eyes when he saw how close they really were. "Fuck! Give me yer hand! Hurry!"

Connor turned around to see why his twin was freaking out and reacted the exact same way when he saw why. "Jesus fuckin christ!" he exclaimed, pulled his gun and shot  
two walkers who were getting too close for his liking. "Connor!" Murphy shouted once again. Connor fiddled about with his machete and somewhat managed to stick it  
between his belt and jeans, then he threw his duffel over the fence and took his twins hand.

"Talking about fuckin heavy!" Murphy complained when he tried to get his older half on top of the wall and grunted because christ, Connor was_ heavy_.  
He turned his head again to check on the walkers only to see that there were about four cars away from them.

"Don't be such a fuckin baby and pull like a man!" the blonde twin yelled and tried to use his feet to climb up the wall.

"Where's yer fuckin rope when we need it, huh?!" Murphy countered and Connor rolled his eyes.

"Fuck ye, it's in me bag but we don't have time!"

Suddenly he slipped and almost pulled Murphy back down with him. The younger twin lost grip because their hands were too sweaty, so Connor fell back down and landed  
on his back and hit his head hard on the asphalt. For a moment all the air was pressed out of his lungs and he gasped in pain and surprise. It took him a second  
to focus again and when he did he saw how his brother was about to jump back down. "Don't!" he shouted and sat back up. Murphy froze and looked at him in horror.

Although his head was aching terribly from the fall he got back up and tried to climb up the wall once more. He could tell that the walkers were getting really close this time,  
and it would be a matter of seconds until they were there and ready to eat him. He did not dare turning around to look where they were, he just looked at Murphy instead  
and reached out for his hand. His twin leaned down and took it once more.

"Got yah!" Murphy shouted and pulled as hard as he could. For a second Connor just looked at their joined hands only to realized that it were the ones with their  
tattooed fingers, _Veritas_ and _Aequitas_. Despite the gravity of the situation and the panic it actually made him smile, because christ, what a picture. Murphy pulled  
with all the strength he could gather, and this time Connor got enough grip to actually support him by pressing a foot against the wall. They had almost managed  
to get him on top when Connor almost fell again, but this time because a walker grabbed his leg. The older MacManus yelped in surprise and tried to cling to his brother  
and the fence. A moment later he could feel the walker chewing on his shoe. He ended up screaming in terror and because it made him so angry. He wouldn't stop  
kicking the walker, and all his moving and struggling almost made Murphy fall down. He fought until he realized that they were getting nowhere and the younger MacManus  
couldn't keep them up there forever, so Connor glared at him.

"Let me go" he demanded and Murphy widened his eyes in shock.  
He saw more walkers coming and knew it was just a matter of seconds until they got close enough to sink their teeth in his brother.

"Are ye fuckin mental?! 'm not letting ye go!"

"Murph! Let me go! 'm just gonna pull ye down with me!" Connor yelled and kicked the walker once more, but the undead wouldn't stop chewing on his shoe.

"'m not letting you go!" Murphy yelled back and pulled once more. Connor kicked the walker at the exact same time, so they actually managed to get rid of him.  
Because the idea of just letting his own brother fall down and get eaten made the younger twin so angry it seemed to cause an extra adrenaline rush. He pulled as hard as  
he could and finally got his brother on top of the wall as well, and just before the other walkers reached it they climbed over the fence and fell down on the street  
on the other side. For a moment they just lay next to each other ,panting and staring at the sky, then Murphy turned his head and glared at Connor. The older MacManus  
knew he did, but he didn't want to face his brother just yet. He stared at the sky and listened to the walkers on the other side of the wall. _Jesus Christ. He could have __**died.**_  
He could hear and feel his heart pounding heavily in his chest, and pretty soon the headache came back. But he welcomed the feeling because it told him that  
he was still _alive. _He could be lying on the other side of that wall and watch his own guts getting eaten out of his belly for all he knew.  
_Thank you god. Thank you fer watching over us. Thank you.  
_He finally had the guts to look at Murphy, and when he did his twin did not waste a second and started punching and kicking him.

"Are ye fuckin stupid!" he yelled and boxed his brother's chest hard.

"How can you fuckin demand something like _this_!" he added and decided that it was easier to punch his brother whilst sitting on top of him.

"Calling me a fuckin baby and then giving up the second it gets a little fuckin chaotic!" he spat and punched his brother's face. Connor growled and tried to grab his arms.

"Murph.." he tried to reason with him, but his twin was far from done because he was so _angry _at Connor for scaring the shit out of him like that.

"Don't fucking Murph me you asshole!" he yelled and was just about to punch him again when his older half finally managed to grab his arms and stop him.

"Murph. It's alright. 'm still here, okay? Jaysus, calm down. We made it, all right?"

He knew that this was Murphy's way of telling him that he was glad he was okay, that he had been scared to death and that he didn't want that anything happened to his  
brother, so he wasn't mad at his younger half for punching him. He squeezed his hands and patted them with a reassuring nod. Murphy glared at him for a moment,  
then he just growled and got up to see where the actually were. He could read _Kenmore Street _on one of the lamp posts and pointed at it.

"Kenmore. T-station's gotta be close. It's my say fram now on, since yer so fuckin stupid and yer plans are shite. We're getting to the other side of te barricades underground.  
Otherwise we'll just pick up walkers at every fuckin barricade we find."

Connor sat up and placed a hand on the back of his aching head. He still hated the idea of roaming through dark tunnels with nothing but two machetes and some silly  
flashlights, but he had to admit that Murphy had got a point there.

"I like the idea af just jumping into the river and swimming to the other side more than running about in fucking dark tunnels underground" he murmured and got up.

Murphy just snorted. "Why, yer gonna be a baby about it?"

Connor growled and nudged him. "Fuck ye. Ye don't remember "_Creep_"?"

Murphy rolled his eyes as they turned their backs on the interstate where the wall was still separating the walkers from them. For just a minute or two they could actually take  
a breath after all the chaos, because they could see any walkers on this side of the wall. They made their way down the street, away from the herd,  
towards another big intersection where yet another traffic jam was waiting for them.


	12. Citgo Sniper

New chapter! I am actually really effin terrified of the next couple of chapters. Dark tunnels, abandoned subway trains...nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 12 - Citgo Sniper

* * *

The good thing about all the cars that were blocking both Kenmore Street and Commonwealth Ave was that they could hide behind them just fine.  
There was an old Ford Mondeo right in front of them, with its front completely crushed and cut in half by the northeast corner of the Commonwealth hotel to their left,  
and it was blocking half the street they were on. Connor and Murphy approached the smoking car to have a look inside. There was blood on the windshield and seats,  
but they couldn't see anyone in there. The passenger door on the other side was open, so they figured that whoever had been driving that car had managed to get out.  
Both twins dropped back down and leaned against the vehicle for a bit, then they looked at each other.

"What's te plan now?" Murphy asked and Connor looked at him.

"I thought ye were planning shit now" he answered and snorted. Murphy rolled his eyes and hit his shoulder angrily.

"Shut up, now's nat the time ta play fuckin games. We gotta find the T station."

Connor got back up to have a look how bad the situation was. He could see lots of cars and buses standing all over the place, and when he turned his head to his left  
he saw the massive Citgo sign and the glass canopy bus shelter in the center of what he believed was Kenmore Square. He nudged his brother and pointed at it.

"Isn't that that new ugly bus station at Kenmore Square? And there, te fuckin Citgo sign! We've already been here once, I remember seeing that fuckin sign."

Murphy got up to look at it. Then he nodded.

"Aye, I remember."

Connor looked at it as well.  
"Aye. 't was on the other side af this road I think."

"Guess we gotta.."

They both froze and stopped talking when they heard an all too familiar groan coming from the other side of the car. Both twins glared at each other and waited.  
They could hear the slow and tired dragging of feet on the other side which was accompanied by tired groans and moans. Connor placed a finger on his mouth and looked  
at his brother who frowned, then he got down and lay on the ground to have a look under the car. He could see one pair of bloody grey sneakers that were slowly making  
their way around the crashed vehicle. The older MacManus growled and got back up to look at his twin.

"Walker" he whispered and Murphy rolled his eyes.

"Jesus, give us a fuckin break..." he answered and grabbed his bowie knife.  
Both twins tried to be as quiet as possible as they made their way around the car to sneak up on the walker, who turned out to be nothing but a teenaged boy with a baseball  
cap and baggy jeans. He had his back turned on them and seemed to be fixated on something on top of one of the buildings on the other side. The undead let out another  
exhausted moan, and when he finally noticed Murphy it was too late. The younger MacManus grabbed the walker by his shoulder and stabbed the back of his head.  
When Murphy let go of him he dropped to the ground with a final gasp. The darkhaired twin looked ahead to see if there were any walkers down the road and when he turned  
around he breathed in sharply. Before he could even manage to say something someone hit his head with a metal pipe and knocked him out.

"Murph!" he heard his brother yell and saw him come out from behind the car, but for a moment he felt so dizzy and confused that he didn't really know what was going on.  
He hissed in pain and placed a hand on his left temple where it hurt the most, and when he looked at his fingertips he saw that there was blood. "Ah, fuck!" he murmured  
and tried to sit back up, but his head was hurting like hell and everything was spinning. He saw Connor fighting with someone and yelling at them, and after a moment  
of trying to focus he could see them more clearly. He could see that his brother was standing behind a woman with long red hair that was fighting him madly, and all her  
screams were getting louder with every second Connor was holding her back. He tried to reason with her and calm her down, but she wouldn't stop kicking and screaming.

"Let me go! Get off me you filthy dead pricks, let me go! LET ME GO!"

Murphy squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and rubbed his aching forehead, then he leaned against the crashed car and tried to haul himself back up on his feet.  
"Connor, shut her te fuck up!" he yelled and held his head once more because her screaming wasn't exactly making his headaches any better.

"'m fuckin tryin!" his brother spat and tried to keep the woman in place, but she wouldn't stop screaming. "We're not gonna hurt ye woman! We're not like 'em!"  
Murphy turned his head to see if there were any walkers around, and much to his discomfort he could see a small group of them who had gotten interested in them already.  
He was pretty sure that everyone within half a mile could hear her, dead or not.

"Shut her up!" he yelled once more and tried to reach them. Connor placed a hand on the struggling woman's mouth to shut her up since all his talking was useless.  
When she bit it hard the older MacManus cursed and let go of her in the heat of the moment.

"Ah, are ye fuckin crazy?!" he spat and shook his aching hand. The redhaired woman used this very moment and grabbed the metal pipe she had dropped to the ground  
when Connor had grabbed her from behind. Murphy rushed to help his brother, and when the woman pointed the pipe at his head once more Connor pulled his gun  
and pointed it at her.

"Drop te fuckin pipe , lady, and calm te fuck down!" he demanded, but she just started laughing at them.

Murphy frowned and eyed her head to toe. She was wearing a tight white pantsuit that looked like it had cost a lot of money, only that it was now missing a sleeve and  
covered in blood. Her long, red curls were nothing but a mess and she had a nasty cut on her forehead. The woman was still laughing manically and grabbed the pipe  
with both her hands.

"You think you're clever, huh?! But I'm not buying this, acting like you're not one of _them_. But of course you are! You're not going to hurt me?"  
She laughed even louder and nodded with an angry frown.

"Yeah, that's what they all said, next thing I know is that you're trying to fucking _eat _me! But there's no way 'm gonna let this happen, you fuckers!"

She tried to get closer to Murphy and giggled.

"It's got to be the head, you know? That's what they said..."

She struck out and tried to hit the younger MacManus once more but missed.

"What te fuck, stop that ye fuckin bitch and open yer eyes!" Murphy snapped and she laughed once more.

She turned her head for a second to look at the walkers that were coming closer.

"And now you bring your friends, huh? Oh you try me, assholes, you just watch me."

The younger MacManus just glared at her whereas Connor tried to reason with her, and when she struck out once more Murphy widened his eyes at what he saw.

"Holy shit Conn, she's been bitten!"

The woman froze and looked at the bite wound on her arm, then she dropped the pipe with another fit of laughter.

"That's right, one of you lot tried to get a piece of me. And I blew his brains out, down at the terminal where.."

A loud gunshot knocked her off her feet and threw her against the crashed car to her right. Both twins startled and ducked down in shock.

"Holy shit!" Connor shouted and when Murphy wanted to say something as well they could hear another gunshot. A split second later a chunk of stone was catapulted out of  
the wall very close to the younger MacManus head. "Get down!" he yelled and they both ran back behind the car. Another bullet hit the rear window and caused  
the broken glass to rain down on them.

"Who te fuck's shooting at people who are _obviously_ fuckin alive?!" Connor yelled and tried to have another look. They could hear gunshots coming from somewhere left,  
and when the older MacManus looked through the windows of the car he saw a small figure standing on top of the building with the Citgo sign.

"This guy thinks he's in fuckin _Sniper _or some shit like that!"

"What's he doing right now?" Murphy asked and Connor had another look. He could see whoever was shooting aiming somewhere east, and when he heard another gunshot  
he saw a walker dropping to the ground. He could see more walkers coming down the road, and they were all staggering in the shooter's direction.

"shooting walkers. Jesus, he's making so much fuckin noise, he's drawing them all ta himself!"

"Well, good fer us!" the younger twin responded and Connor turned around again to look at his brother.  
All the shooting and chaos had made him forget for a second, but now that he looked at his twin and saw all the blood running down his left temple he remembered.

"Are ye alright?" he asked and pointed at his twins head. Murphy snorted.

"'m gonna live. We got more important things ta do now, Connor. _What's the plan_?"

Connor looked at his brother for a little while longer and chewed on his lower lip, then he sighed and turned around again to see what was going stranger was still shooting  
at walkers who were getting closer and closer to the building he was standing on, to a point where the intersection in front of the MacManus twins actually looked clear.

"Okay, he's busy shooting_ them_, and _they _are all interested in _him_ at the moment. So we just gotta grab our things, and zigzag our way to the other side of the street.  
'm actually fuckin glad that there's so many cars this time, so we got some cover in case fuckin Rambo over there decides ta shoot _us _again."

Murphy nodded.  
"Sounds like a good plan."

Connor snorted and looked at his brother.  
"Fuck ye, af course it's a good plan. My plans are always good."

The younger twin rolled his eyes but didn't bother saying anything about that. He frowned when his brother opened his bag and got a small medkit  
they had found at the stadium.

"We gotta get rid of all that blood first. Fuckers smell that shit."

He ripped the package open with his teeth and started to clean his brother's wound. Murphy wanted to complain because he hated when his twin went all mother hen on him,  
but right now they had bigger problems. Suddenly he saw a faint bite wound on his brother's hand when he was bandaging his head. Murphy frowned.

"Conn?"

"Aye?" his twin responded absently because he was concentrating on the bandaging proccess.

"How are _you _feeling?"

The older MacManus snorted.  
"Well 'm feelin fine, she didn't knock _me _out."

"No, but she bit ye."

Apart from the shooting and never ending groaning that was still going on behind them there was silence for a moment and Connor froze.  
A second later he resumed his work and snorted.

"Aye, but she wasn't one af them yet, Murph. She was still alive, she was one af us."

Murphy frowned and looked at his brother questioningly.  
"But she was infected. A walker bit her. I saw it."

Connor was finally done bandaging his brother's head and looked at him.  
"So fuckin what, 'm fine Murph. Let's not worry about that now. She was alive. 'm gonna be fine, we're gonna be fine. God's watchin over us, remember?  
Ye just gotta believe and it's fine, aye?"

The older MacManus got up and wiped his mouth.

"Besides, she didn't exactly break me skin, there ain't no blood, see?"  
He showed his brother his hand where they could see the faint bite wound but no blood. Connor nudged his twin.  
"Come on, we really gotta leave."

Only moments after they left their hideout the shooting resumed and rained down on them. It took them quite a while to get to the other side of the intersection because of  
all their hiding and ducking down, and when they reached the center of the road they finally realized that the unknown shooter wasn't exactly shooting at _them_,  
but walkers who had been lurking behind the cars and coming dangerously close.

"Holy fuck, I think he's actually tryin ta help us!" Murphy, who was following his brother through the maze of broken down cars and bodies, murmured and  
tried to have a look at the mysterious shooter without running into his brother or a vehicle. All he could see was that the man was shooting some sort of rifle.

"Well I thought 't was fuckin weird that he hit tha woman and walkers full on but missed us" Connor answered and stopped to hide behind a truck and check the situation  
once more. He could see the entrance to the underground station from where he was standing, but also the big group of walkers that was piling up on the windows and doors  
of the building where the shooter was located.

"Fuck, we gotta be real fuckin quiet and fast" he whispered and turned around to look at his brother. Murphy moved to stand right next to him and have a look himself.

"Well, _fuck _me" he murmured when he saw them too.

Both twins looked at each other for a moment and tried to gather strength and courage. Then, with a final reassuring nod they got up and started running.

No matter how hard they tried to remain undetected, they just ended up with a group of walkers getting interested in them instead of the shooter.  
They still didn't know how the walkers worked, whether they heard, saw or smelled potential victims first, but no matter how they did it, they would always end up following  
them and tracking them down. Very soon both Connor and Murphy couldn't go on they way they had done it the first couple of yards before. Now they could just run.  
More and more walkers were turning around and looking at them, and it looked like now that they could sense that there was fresh meat right in front of them instead of  
five stories above, they got more interested in the twins. Connor ended up cursing and running faster, and they were on their way down the stairs to the platforms  
when they realized that it was too late. Massive iron gates were blocking their only way out, their only way further down to the actual subway station. Both twins  
froze and shook the gate violently, and when they turned around to look back they had to realize that the walkers were on their way down the stairs already.  
There was no way out.

"Jesus, fuck, they're coming, what do we fuckin do?!" Murphy yelled and shook the gates once more, and so did Connor. The brothers turned around once more only to see  
shadows on the wall, and the groans and snarls of the walkers were getting amplified because of the stone walls surrounding them.  
"What do we fuckin do Connor?!" the younger MacManus shouted once more to predominate all the terrifying groans that were coming closer and closer.

"Shut te fuck up, 'm trying ta figure it out!" Connor snapped and moved down the gate to find a door handle, a lock, anything. He did find the lock a couple of seconds later,  
but no matter how hard they kicked and shook the gate, it wouldn't give in.

"Well hurry te fuck up!" Murphy spat and started shaking the gate with an angry cry.

"I am!" Connor yelled and pulled his gun to shoot the lock. His brother startled and backed off, but when he turned around he saw the walkers entering the hall.

"Run!" he shouted and did so, down the non-working escalators, into darkness. He froze and turned around in panic when he realized that Connor wasn't behind him.

"Connor!" he yelled and ran back, regardless of the whole stupidity of this action.

"'s alright Murph!" he heard his brother answer, and when he reached the top of the escalator he saw him standing there by the gate. He could see it shaking violently and  
there were all kinds of walkers piling up on it, only that somehow they couldn't get in. _But how was this possible? __Connor had just shot the lock, hadn't he?  
_His brother turned around with a big grin on his face and stepped aside so Murphy could see.

"See? '_Name one thing yer gonna need this stupid fuckin rope for'_, aye?"

* * *

**additional note:** I put the bite situation in because of the third installment of this series, which I'm going to write this October, you know, the one I was talking about at  
the very beginning, the sequel to Salvation where Connor didn't actually die. I am going to play around with the idea of Connor being immune in this third fic, so I wanted  
to plant some hints here in this story. Yes, that woman was infected, yes she bit Connor, yes she infected him, but it didn't turn him, and he doesn't know.  
And he won't know for a veeeeery long time.


	13. Static Noise

New chapter of the story one of my lovely reviewers called "_a piece of shit, a 3 out of 10_" :D  
She asked me to stop writing, so what did I do? Yes. Keep writing. Harharhar.

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 13 - Static Noise

* * *

It was the first time they could actually have a closer look at the walkers, now that there was an iron gate holding them back. They could see all sorts of people, women,  
men, old people, young people, and the most terrifying of them all: little children. Some of them had terrible bite wounds, deep and bloody, with guts hanging out of their bellies  
and chests. Others looked normal, with nothing but small bite wounds on their arms or legs. The herd was shaking the gate violently and tried to reach out for the MacManus  
twins, but their arms wouldn't fit through. Murphy looked down on the gate to get a closer look at what Connor had done.  
Somehow his twin had managed to tie it up with a rope.

"What the fuck" he murmured and looked back up. Connor grinned and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, we can be glad we learned all sorts of shit back in Ireland, don't ye think?"

He looked at the walkers and kicked the gate.  
"Let's hope those fuckers are too stupid to untie it."

Murphy snorted and looked at the rope once more.

"I don't wanna wait and find out. Let's get the fuck outta here. They've managed to get everywhere so far, so shouldn't take 'em too long to get through this as well."

Connor looked at them and nodded.  
"Aye. Guess yer right, brother."

Both twins turned around to make their way back to the escalators. For a moment they just stood in front of them and looked down. It was very dark except for some  
emergency lights. Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Who's fuckin idea was this again?"

His twin chuckled and nudged him.  
"Yers, why? You scared? It's either that or..."

He turned around and pointed at the walkers that were still piling up on the gate. Murphy rolled his eyes and grabbed his duffel bag to get a flashlight.

"No, thanks. Dark tunnel all the way through."

Connor searched for his flashlight as well and grinned.  
"Aye! Now that's the spirit!"

* * *

Once again the smell was way worse than the darkness. They could still hear the walkers that were fighting the gate, but right now those were the least of their problems.  
The twins had learned by now that darkness and smell were never a good sign, and they expected more walkers to be down at the plattform than there were up in the entrance hall.

"I swear ta god if there's a shitload of those things down here then I fuckin quit." Murphy whispered and sighed angrily.  
The whole running and hiding thing was starting to exhaust him, and all he wanted was some luck for once. Connor, who was walking in front of him with the flashlight  
pointed at whatever was in front of them, snickered and turned around.

"Well, we managed ta get here, so technically speaking we've been lucky so far."

The younger MacManus growled.  
"Eunice fuckin died, ye moron. You nearly got eaten by walkers back on the interstate, then some crazy chick attacked us, knocked me out with a pipe, bit ye and got shot.  
How's that lucky?!"

"Speaking of which, how do you think that guy's doing up there? Don't ye think we should've tried ta help 'im?"

Murphy snorted.  
"I think the guy's just fine up there with his shootin."

They didn't speak anymore when they reached ground level.  
"Oh my god" Connor murmured, but didn't know what else to say because the sight made him speechless. The source of the terrible stench was nothing but a pile of rotting  
bodies on the ground. For a moment they just stood there perfectly still and looked at the mess in front of them.

"Jesus" Murphy said, grabbed his machete and turned one of the bodies around.  
It was an old man with broken glasses and several gunshots to his chest. His clothes were stained with blood where the bullets had hit him.

"Fuck, I really hope they aren't walkers or else we're fucked" he whispered and stared at the man to his feet.

"One way ta find out" Connor answered and took a deep breath. The he took a few steps back and grabbed his machete as well.

"Hello? Anyone here?" he yelled as loud as he could and listened up.

Murphy held his breath in both surprise and fear, and they waited several minutes only to hear nothing. None of the bodies were moving, and apart from the noise  
and gunshots upstairs they couldn't hear anything. The older MacManus got back down and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well looks like they're all dead."

Murphy looked at all the bodies that were lying on the ground. Women, men, kids, wearing backpacks and clinging to suitcases, but no one would move.

"If that isn't some seriously fucked up shit" the younger murmured and made his way down the platform. He tried not to step on anyone, but it was rather hard to do so  
since the whole ground was covered with dead bodies. Murphy groaned and pulled his shirt up so it covered his mouth and nose.

"Fuckin disgusting" he complained and Connor covered his mouth with a nod.

"Yer making a habbit outta that. Still, be careful" he reminded his twin.

Apart from all the bodies they could see all sorts of luggage and blankets lying on the ground, including water bottles, food wrappers and medical waste.  
Further down the rails they could see an abandoned train. What was even more surprising was that its lights were still on.  
The windshield was broken and there was blood on it. Both twins looked at each other and frowned.

"Looks like they used this station as temporary camp or something. Maybe they used trains ta get people to the evacuation centers? The boats?" the older suggested.

Murphy frowned and knelt down to search one of the many bags and suitcases for any clues. Connor walked up to one of the many signs to read what was written there.

"Aye, they're writing about that here. Evacuation..Black Falcon Cruise Terminal...looks like Eunice was right after all."

He turned around to look at the bodies once more.

"Looks like shit went wrong. Maybe one of those people was infected and all hell broke loose. Military shot them, fled..and tha's it."

The blonde twin shook his head and sighed.

"Still, that's some seriously fucked up shit man."

Murphy was still busy searching one of the bodies that wasn't _that _decomposed and rotten yet.  
Then he turned around with a frown and looked at the bodies surrounding them.

"I think they shot everyone, even people who weren't infected" he stated and Connor frowned.

"What?"

The younger nodded and pointed at a blonde woman who had been shot in the chest.

"Just look at them. Most of them didn't die fram headshots. And this one ain't got no bite wounds. They died because they were shot in the neck, or chest...  
That was a fuckin massacre here."

Connor knelt down to look at them as well.

"Jesus. There's fuckin kids here, man."

He shook his head and sighed.

"Well, maybe they _had_ ta evacuate. Maybe there was mass hysteria going on. I mean just look what te fuck happened up there. There's too many walkers up there.  
Maybe they all left this place in a hurry cos it was getting too dangerous."

Murphy snorted and got up to search his pockets for a smoke and a lighter.

"Or they all ended up dead somewhere down those tunnels."

Connor growled and got up as well.

"What the fuck's yer problem all of the sudden? 't was yer idea ta go down here, and 't was yer idea to get to the fuckin harbor."

Murphy blew out some smoke and sighed.

"Aye, it's just...we've been outta our apartment fer hours now and came across two living people in total. One of them being a complete fuckin nutter.  
Besides, she was trying ta tell us something about the terminal when that sniper shot her. And now look at this place. Dead bodies fuckin everywhere, the stadium,  
the train station, everyone's dead dead dead.. 't's just..bugging me Connor. Where the fuck is everyone?"

He rubbed his aching forehead and took a deep breath.

"'m just fuckin tired. That's all."

The blonde twin sighed and grabbed a smoke as well.

"Aye, me too."

They went back to the escalator to sit down and rest for a moment. It was getting quieter upstairs, and since they could still hear the shooting they figured  
that the walkers had lost interest in them and headed back up to get the mysterious sniper instead. Connor listened up and blew out some smoke.

"Sounds like they're leavin" he murmured and Murphy looked up at the ceiling. He nodded and threw his cigarette to the ground to put it out.

"Aye."

"You still want us to make our way underground? Even if there could be crashed trains and all that shit?"

The younger twin nodded and reloaded his guns.

"There's no way we're going back up there. I think we stand a pretty good chance that there aren't any blockades down those tunnels. Maybe other people made it with the T.  
I mean, someone must've shot all those people, and ye bet 't were more than two people slaughtering a crowd like that. Judging by the holes I'd say 't was military.  
There's gotta be someone. Maybe they just tried ta prevent another outbreak on the other side of the blockades, so they shot everyone suspicious and  
locked te whole place down."

Connor threw his cigarette away and grabbed his Berettas as well.

"Aye, good thinking. I don't think they locked this place up fer nothin."

He frowned after a moment of thinking about everything he had just heard.

"Since when are ye the one coming up with shit?"

Murphy was just about to answer when static noise echoed through the hall and interrupted them. Both twins looked up in surprise and tried to make out its source.  
A minute later the noise resumed.

"I think it's coming from the train" Connor observed and got up.

They listened up for a moment, and the static noise and cracking could be heard once more.  
The brothers looked at each other questioningly, and without speaking a word they nodded and made their way to the train.

It took them longer because they still had to watch their step and keep an eye on all the dead people on the ground. After climbing over bodies and balancing their way  
to the other side of the platform they finally reached the silver train that was parked at the very end of the tunnel. Its lights were still on and all the doors were open.  
Connor was the first to peak around the corner, and it didn't surprise him when he found even more bodies inside. Murphy was right behind him and startled when his brother  
raised his voice again. He cursed and hit his shoulder angrily.

"Are ye fuckin crazy?! Nearly had a fuckin heart attack!"

No matter how dangerous and serious the whole situation was, the older twin couldn't help but chuckle a bit.  
He loved whenever he managed to scare the shit out of his younger half.

"This isn't funny ye asshole!" Murphy whisper-shouted and urged his brother to walk ahead. They could still hear the static noise as they made their way to the driver's cab,  
and when they got closer they could hear that there was someone talking.

"_Cit...o...way..c..n_"

Both twins froze and tried to understand what was being said.

"_Cit...o...enway..more..c...in._"

The brothers looked at each other and started walking again.

"_Citgo..o...way...Kenmore..c..in._"

"I think it's that dude fromt he citgo sign!" Connor said and started walking faster.

When they reached the door that led to driver's cab he placed a hand on the door handle.

"'s coming from inside..." Murphy said and startled when someone hit the door with bloody hands. Connor backed off and bumped into his brother.

"Jesus fuckin christ!" he shouted and took a deep breath. He could see a walker on the other side of the door, right where the radio was. The man was hammering his fists  
against the glass window and covered it with blood. He was also pressing his face against the window pane and tried to bite them.  
His eyes were wide open and his face covered in blood.

"_Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, come in_."

They could hear it all too clearly now. There was a man speaking to them over the radio.

"Jesus Conn, it's gotta be that sniper guy" Murphy said and nudged his brother.

Connor just watched the walker on the other side of the door.  
The creature was getting madder with every second they just stared at each other, and he wouldn't stop banging his fists and head against the windowpane.

"Just shoot the fucker and get in!" Murphy demanded and Connor turned around.

"I can't just fuckin shoot that idiot. What if that bullet goes straight through and hits some shit in that cabin, we can't risk that. Maybe we can use that train."

Murphy raised both his eyebrows and snorted.

"What are yah, insane? You know how ta drive a fuckin subway train?"

"Can't be that hard, cannit?"

Connor turned his head again to look at the walker. After a moment of thinking he put his gun away and grabbed his machete instead.

"Murph, get back and hide next to the door" he demanded and his twin frowned.

"What are ye gonna do?"

"Open the door"

"What?!" the younger yelled, but couldn't say anything else because his brother grabbed the doorhandle and opened the door. Murphy cursed and jumped to hide  
right next to it. The walker stumbled forward and nearly fell on top of Connor, who walked backwards and started yelling at him.

"Come on! Come on and get me, motherfucker! 'm nice and tasty! Come at me!" he shouted and looked at his brother, whom the walker had passed without looking at  
him at all. He was so fixated on Connor and all his yelling that he seemed completely unaware of the other twin who was right behind him.

"Come on! NOW!" the blonde twin yelled and Murphy hit the back of the walker's head with his machete. The undead groaned and fell to the ground.

"_Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, come in_" they could hear it again and looked up.

"Well, I think someone's waitin" the older brother said, hit his brother's chest and approached the driver's cab with his raised weapon.  
He entered the room carefully, and once he had made sure that there was no one else in there he put his machete away and sighed.

"Clear" he said and Murphy entered as well.

"_Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, come in._"

Connor looked at the radio-handset and frowned.

"Fuckin answer it already, man!" his younger half demanded and Connor growled.

"Shut it and keep watch!"

He sat down on the seat and grabbed the handset.

"How does that work?" he asked and pressed a few buttons.

"I don't know, just..press somethin and talk."

Connor grinned.  
"I've always wanted t'do that."

Murphy hit the back of his head, which made him growl once more.

"Alright. Jesus. This is Fenway-Kenmore, I repeat this is Fenway-Kenmore, we can hear ye loud and clear."

He grinned even more and added an excited "Over."

"_Cit...Jesus, Bill! I've been tryin t'talk to yah folks for days! You... you gotta get us outta here, man. We need someone to evacuate the building.  
Ever since fuckin Mike decided to shoot walkers and help some crazies down the street, walkers've been piling up on our doors and windows.  
How are the trains? Can we leave this goddamn place? When yah sent me over here yah didn't say anything about fucking **days**!_"

Connor looked at his brother in surprise.

"I think this guy's got no idea what happened here."

"_Bill? Come on buddy, don't hang up on me now, there's lives at stake here! Yah promised you'd get us outta here!_"

Murphy bit his lip and looked at the handset in his brother's hand. Connor sighed.

"Well, what do we tell them?"

His younger half sighed and rubbed his forehead. Then he put his hands on his hips and shrugged.

"Te truth, I guess."

"_Bill? Bill! Come on, they're tryin to fuckin get in, I've got kids in here, Mike's running out of ammo, fuckin.._"

"Sorry, but this isn't Bill. We're...looks like we're the crazies yer friend backed up. Me name's Connor. It's just me and my brother Murph down here."

There was silence for a while and both twins looked at each other questioningly.

"_What the fuck are yah talking bout, who let you two take over the radio? Where the fuck's Bill? Is this Kenmore station? The emergency pick up point?_"

Connor leaned forward to look out of the window. He could see the plattform from where he was sitting, and he could see all the bodies they had just passed.  
He saw the green and white sign and read "KENMORE".

"Aye, this is Kenmore station. And we're on a train. But there's no one here."

He looked at his twin.

"Should I tell him 'bout te bodies?"

Murphy shook his head.

"Not just yet."

Connor nodded and spoke into the receiver again.

"There's no military here" he added, which wasn't exactly lying since they had seen no soldiers or anyone that looked like they were part of the military.

"_What the fuck?! Where are they?! They were supposed t'get us outta here. Days ago! I've got a building full of people here!_"

The older MacManus growled and put the device away for a moment. He covered his eyes with both his hands and rubbed them nervously.

"Jesus fuckin christ."

"_Collin? Yah still there?_"

Connor shook his head and took a deep breath. Murphy watched him for a moment and shifted.

"We gotta help them, Connor" he said quietly and his twin looked up.

"I know we gotta fuckin help them. It's our fault they got all those walkers surrounding them now."

He took the handset again.

"It's Connor. We're still here, brother."

"_Good. Cos I wanna know what happened down there, and I want assistance right. fuckin. now...No Patricia, it ain't Bill. It's some other guys._"

Connor looked out of the window again and swallowed.

"Well..the whole place was locked up with iron gates when we came in here..and..well..looks like they shot people. There's a shitload of bodies down here.  
And all the trains are gone. It's just one train left."

"_Just one..jesus, Patricia, what is it now?!_" they could hear the other man yell.

"_Be right...HOLY SHIT_"

Both twins startled when they could hear loud screams and noise coming over the radio. Connor widened his eyes and looked at his brother in shock.  
Murphy seemed just as surprised. For a moment they could hear all sorts of screams, gunshots and noises.

"Citgo? Citgo! This is Kenmore, come on, what's going on?"

He let go of the button and could hear terrifying screams and groans. Connor was still looking at his brother in shock.

"Citgo, this is Kenmore, tell us how many are there, we are coming t'help, what is yer exact location?!"

More screams and loud bangs. A second later they could hear static noise.

"_H..h..hello?_"

Connor got up and grabbed the handset tight.

"Aye! This is Connor and Murphy! Tell us how many there are! Just hold on, we're comin!"

He looked up at Murphy and pointed at their bags.  
"Get the guns and knives ready! Then grab the bags!"

"_T...t..they got Andrew...they're everywhere. They...they...g..got everyone. I'm all that's...that's left_" they could hear a woman cry.  
Another couple of loud bangs and screams could be heard, and the woman started screaming as well.

"_Oh my god they're coming!_" she yelled and started screaming again. Murphy handed Connor two new magazines in a hurry and put his bag back on.

"Just stay calm, we're comin t'get ye. What's yer name, where are ye?"

"_P...Patricia...I grabbed ..grabbed the walkie and hid in the closet._" The woman started crying and screaming again.

"_I don't wanna die.._"

The younger twin helped his brother with his bag and turned around to run ahead.

"It's okay, Patricia! We're on our way..we're..."

Suddenly he could hear another loud bang and bone-chilling screams.

"_Help me! No! Oh god, please, no!_"

Then the broadcast cut off abruptly. Murphy stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at his brother, who was still standing inside the driver's cab.

"Patricia?"

Static noise.

"Patricia!"

Static noise.

"Andrew? Mike? Citgo? Anyone?"

Static noise.


	14. Hope

**Retribution**

Chapter 14 - Hope

* * *

"Kenmore to Citgo. Kenmore to Citgo, please come in."

His brother was repeating it over again. Murphy just sat there on one of the many seats close to the driver's cab and listened to his brother's words that were  
getting interrupted by static noise every single time he let go of the speaker button. They had been trying for over 10 minutes now.  
The younger twin was balancing a cigarette between his fingers and watched the ash fall down.

"Kenmore to Citgo, Kenmore to Citgo, please come in. This is Connor. Patricia, are ye there?"

Murphy sighed and rubbed the sides of his nose tiredly.

"Kenmore to.."

"Connor, they're fuckin dead, okay?!" he shouted and glared at his brother.

Connor, who was sitting on the driver's seat, turned around and glared back at him. They just looked at each other like that and didn't even need any words.

_Stop it now. It's useless.  
It's so fucking unfair._

Connor growled and threw the handset away. He leaned forward and rested his arms on the console, then he grabbed his hair with both his hands and stared down  
at all the switches and buttons. Murphy looked at his brother for moment, then he turned his head again and stared at the ground. They didn't speak for a very long while  
and gave in to their thoughts. The younger just thought about everything that had happened to them today, all the death they had seen. So many people had died today  
that this group didn't even really matter anymore. Everything was dying, everything was just _gone_. Connor, however, could feel the guilt eating him up.  
He remembered Mrs Tatcher, all the bodies in the stadium, the baby on the interstate, the woman who had been shot in front of their eyes. He looked up and saw  
all the people who had been shot on the platform, and now he remembered how scared Patricia had sounded. He had listened to her dying. And part of him  
couldn't help but blame himself. Because they had been the ones that had caused that sniper guy to shoot and attract all the walkers to that group's hideout.

For the first time today he had felt a spark of hope when he had seen that man on the roof and heard the other man's voice over the radio. He had been glad  
and relieved that there had been people out there, living, breathing people, so close by. And now they were all dead. And once again it was just him and Murphy.  
He leaned back and wiped his face tiredly. When he let his hand drop again he saw the faint bite wound on it and rubbed it absently. He hadn't really thought about it yet.  
What this could mean. It were bites that turned people after all. But was he turning? He didn't feel any different. He shook his hand and clenched it to a fist.  
There was _no way_ he was turning. Because he wouldn't let that happen. No matter how many people had died today and how lonely they felt right now,  
there was no way he would die as well. _He_ wouldn't leave Murphy alone. He turned his head to look at his brother. His younger half was sitting there with his hands  
in his pockets and a smoke in his mouth and stared at the ground. _There's no way I'm leaving you alone here, _he thought again and took a deep breath.

"All right. Let's see how this fuckin train works. Better get going before those fuckers up there decide ta go after us again."

His brother turned his head to look at him with a frown.  
"Ye really wanna drive a fuckin subway train."

Connor turned around and tried to press a few buttons.  
"It's gotta be the green ones. Traffic lights go green when yer sapposed ta start driving, don't they?"

He pressed all the green buttons but nothing would happen. Murphy entered the cab as well and pointed at another button.

"Try that one there."

Connor did as he was told and both twins startled when they heard a loud ringing coming from the train.

"Jesus!" Murphy exclaimed and looked out of the window to see if any of the bodies were moving because of the noise.  
Both twins didn't move for a moment, then Connor snorted. His brother growled and hit his shoulder.

"Stop laughing and hurry up."

The blonde twin pressed another bunch of buttons and moved the levelers up and down, but the train wouldn't move. When he hit another button the lights  
went out and they both gasped in surprise. It was pitch black.

"Turn it back on! Fuck, turn it back on!" Murphy demanded and hit his brother's shoulder multiple times until Connor pressed the button and the lights came back to life.  
They both took a deep breath.

"Fuuuck me" the older twin murmured and sighed.

"Well looks like it ain't movin. Maybe that's the reason it's still here."

He pressed the buttons once more and Murphy nodded. The dark haired brother turned around to look at all the bodies on the platform and inside the train.

"Maybe that's why everyone panicked and got shot. Maybe all the other trains were full and leavin, and those people freaked out."

Connor scratched his cheek and nodded after a while.

"Aye, could be."

He got up and sighed.

"Guess we'll have ta walk then."

* * *

They were standing in front of one of the many maps that showed all the subway lines and stations. Connor pointed at Hynes station.

"We could either try ta go back up there, or walk fer a little while longer til Boylston. Depending how things are down those tunnels."

Murphy nodded.

"Aye, here's te Pru, should be far enough fram all the blockades and walkers."

Connor knelt down to search his duffel.

"Gonna put an extra pair of batteries in our pockets in case our flashlights stop workin."

He opened one of the packs they had taken with them and handed his brother a couple of batteries.

"Check yer guns once more and make sure yer machete's within reach. We don't know how fucked up things are in there."

Murphy nodded and did as he was told.  
Instead of making their way back on the platform, both twins jumped down on the tracks in front of the train. Connor knelt down to check if there were any  
walkers underneath it, but they were all by themselves. The older twin got back up and shrugged.  
"Clear" he murmured and started walking towards the tunnel that led them further east. Once they reached the very end of the station both twins put their  
flashlights back on and pointed at the dark tunnel. They checked the rails and walls for any blood, body parts or walkers but didn't find anything.  
Connor and Murphy turned their heads and looked at each other. The younger sighed and scratched his nose.

"Ladies first" Connor said and grinned. Murphy growled and tried to kick his leg.

"Fuck ye, more like scared bedwetters last, asshole!"

He took a deep breath and entered the dark tunnel. Connor turned around to look at Kenmore station one more time. The headlights of the train were blinding him,  
so he shielded his eyes and took a look around once more just to make sure that they really were alone and that no one was following them.

"Ye coming or what? 's poor little Connor scared af the dark now?" he heard Murphy's voice echo through the dark tunnels and turned around to look at his brother.  
His twin was waiting a couple of meters down the rails. The blonde growled and entered the tunnel as well.

"Fuck ye, who was yellin "turn it back on!" like a scared little girl when I turned out the lights"

He caught up with his brother and lit a smoke as they made their way further down the tunnel. Connor looked up after a while and pointed his flashlight at the ceiling and walls.

"Christ, fuckin _trains _fit in here?"

Murphy chuckled and looked at his brother.  
"What, first yer scared af the dark and now yer claustrophobic? 36 years and 'm learning all sorts af new shit about ye, brother."

Connor hit his shoulder and growled.  
"Fuck ye, I ain't fuckin claustrophobic. We've been inside elevators and air shafts and I didn't say shit! I've just never seen a fuckin subway tunnel up close, okay?"

Murphy snickered and grinned. He loved how easy it was to annoy Connor, how much his brother hated to be called names. It was a nice contrast to all the shit  
that was happening right now, and he enjoyed that he wasn't the one being picked on for once.

"Speaking af which, reminds me an awful lot of our trip down the air shafts at the Copley" Connor added and Murphy nodded.

"Aye. Yer right."

For a while they just kept walking and the younger thought about that night. Their first job. The first time they had killed people as "the Saints". He missed those times.  
He had been looking forward to doing that again after breaking out of prison. He sighed when he remembered that it was unlikely to happen again. He remembered  
what Boston had used to be like, crowded with people, good and bad. All their friends and enemies. Right now he missed them _all_. Including all those evil bastards.  
He just missed people in general.

"Remember Roc's face when he discovered that it was us who killed all those fuckers that night?"he asked and looked at his brother.  
Connor was still looking straight ahead, but after a moment he started grinning and laughing.

"Aye. Aye, I do."

They both started laughing at the memory.

"Fuckin Rocco" Connor said and laughed even more.  
Pretty soon the tunnel was filled with their laughter as they shared their favourite Rocco stories with arms wrapped around each other and stopping every once  
in a while because they were out of breath due to all their laughing. For just a minute or two they forgot about all the chaos that was going on, because it was  
just the two of them, surrounded by nothing but walls and darkness. They felt save, but it wouldn't last long. Every once in a while they could hear some distant  
banging down the tunnels, like someone was trying to remind them forcefully that they weren't save at all. Connor, who still had his arm wrapped around his twins shoulder ,  
slowly recovered from his fit of laughter and sighed.

"Fuckin Rocco" he said again and fell quiet. Murphy took a deep breath.

"I fuckin miss him, man" he admitted and felt how his brother looked at him. The younger didn't want to look his twin in the eye though. He just kept an eye on the tracks.

"And Rome. And Da."

Connor pressed his lips together and looked away. He still hated to talk about their father. All their life they had been waiting for this man. Then they had been  
given 10 wonderful years with the old man, who'd had his inner demons, but who had been a loving father nevertheless. He felt a deep pain in his chest and sighed.

"Aye. Me too Murph."

He kicked a stone away and let go of his brother.

"On the bright side, at least they don't have ta live through all this shit now. Getting eaten by walkers like Eunice, Smecker, Duff and Dolly. They're with the lord."

Murphy snorted.  
"So dying because of some mobsters shootin them's so much better?"

Connor glared at him and gritted his teeth. He considered yelling at his brother for bringing _this _up all the time, but he didn't want to destroy everything.

"Aye. It is" he just said and fell quiet.

His younger half switched hands so he held the flashlight with his left hand.

"Ye think Ma's dead as well?"

Connor growled and looked at his brother.  
"Do we really need ta talk about this now? Christ, way ta spoil the mood, Murph."

"I was just thinking bout it" Murphy murmured and looked down. He didn't want to get into a fight as well, so he just let it go.  
Connor looked at his brother from time to time. Once again he hated to see the kid upset, so he nudged him.

"I bet she's gonna be just fine. You fuckin know what she's like. She's a MacManus. I mean look at us, we're still alive, so you bet _that_ woman's still alive.  
She survived us, she's just _got _to survive a bunch of dead brainless people. "

Murphy smirked when he remembered his mother, all the things she had done. He had always admired her strength.

"Aye."

Connor nodded.

"Besides, if there really are some boats, then maybe they're takin us back ta Europe. Remember what they said on te news? That the French were working on a cure?  
Maybe it isn't so bad over there. And remember, Ireland's an island. Maybe they don't have any infected there at all. Could be. We'll just have ta wait and.."

He was interrupted when all the lights began to flicker and came to life. Connor and Murphy stopped walking and looked at the small and dim lights in surprise.  
"Fuck me" Connor murmured and turned around. He stared at all the lamps. Murphy did the same and turned his head to look at his brother. Connor started grinning at him.

"See! Do ye fuckin see that? Maybe it really isn't so bad at all!"

The younger started grinning as well. Connor laughed and nudged his brother.

"Guess ye were right with yer plan. Good idea ta leave the apartment."

They started walking again and somewhat expected a train or some people to come, but nothing would happen. They were still alone, it was still silent,  
but they welcomed the light. Somehow it made them feel more secure. Because light meant electricity, and electricity meant working power plants.  
Power plants that were being controlled by _living _people. The tunnel soon split into two separate tunnels, and after contemplating and arguing the twins  
agreed on taking the right one. The lights were still on and they kept walking, following the tunnel, hoping that they would come across other people and an exit soon.


	15. Prudential Center

New chapter! I was quite busy this weekend, since I'm moving! Starting my first semester at university next week! But I'm gonna keep writing.  
I want to finish this fic by the end of October, so , gotta hurry! :D I should call this little fic "how many of her favourite movies can Susan put in one fic?"  
I've put in references to Shaun of the Dead, The Walking Dead, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later in it so far, and now Dawn of the Dead is up next. :D  
Is anyone out there still reading this fic? I've got no idea! Lol! Nah, I'm pretty much writing this fic for myself anyhoo =D

* * *

**Retribution**  
Chapter 15 - Prudential Center

* * *

"How did we end up at te fucking Pru?" Murphy asked and stared at the green sign on the wall.  
The twins had finally reached the next subway station after ten minutes of making their way through dark and musty tunnels. The younger brother remembered that their plan had been to make it to Hynes station or Boylston station, but somehow, after taking the wrong tunnel or whatever, they had reached Prudential Station, which was further south. Connor walked past his twin to have a look at one of the many maps.

"Well, on the bright side, we're still on the right side af the blockades. And closer to the harbor. Let's just hope that there really aren't any walkers up there."

He turned around to have a closer look at the platforms and tracks. They couldn't see any walkers or people down here, and after keeping quiet for a bit to make sure that they couldn't hear anyone they came to the conclusion that they were alone. Again. It was surreal to see an abandoned T- station. There were no people, no trains, no animals, no corpses, no walkers, nothing. All they could hear was the wind humming and blowing through the abandoned tunnels. Connor put a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed.

"Come on, let's get back up and see what's going on. We're closer to the city center. There's gotta be people somewhere."

He started walking and heard Murphy snort.

"Aye, people, or a shitload of walkers. Why don't we just stay down here, make our way through the tunnels?"

They found the stairs and followed them.

"It's gettin dark out there, it's past eight, and I'm fucking wasted after everything that's happened taday. I think we should find a place t'crash and work on a plan.  
How we can get to the terminal safely. I don't wanna stay underground. Fucking tunnels make me feel paranoid. What if we really come across walkers down here?  
We'd be screwed."

They reached the top of the stairs and found themselves in a hallway with even more signs and maps. Connor took another look and pointed at one of them.

"Prudential Center. What do you say? Shopping center. I bet all the doors are locked, shouldn't be any walkers in there. If we're lucky. We could look fer a small shop,  
barricade the doors and hide there fer a bit. And all the free food's gotta be a bonus, don't ye think?"

Murphy shrugged.  
"Yer the one doing the planning. I say we should stay down here."

"And what about the lights? We don't know how long they're gonna keep the power plants running. Total blackout and we'd be sittin here in complete darkness."

Murphy growled and followed his brother further up the stairs.  
"Just cos yer a fuckin wimp."

They followed the stairs and corridors until they reached the escalators which led back up to street level. Once again they felt slightly uneasy because of the lack of voices and sounds. Not hearing any moans and the dragging of feet was a good thing of course, not hearing any chattering in such a shopping hall in the middle of the city was strangely surreal. Something they weren't used to at all. Back in the old days, when they had been young and just moved to Boston, they had spent weeks complaining about how noisy the city was. Sometimes they had wished that they could go back to their small village in Ireland just to escape all the noise. Now they just wanted it back.

They walked up the stairs between the escalators in silence, simply because they had no idea how many walkers where out on the streets and they didn't want to attract them. Murphy was the first to reach ground level. The first thing he noticed was a poster of the American flag which was hanging in the top right corner. It made him snort. _What was it worth now? Was this still America? Right now it felt like the United States of the Walking Dead._They had seen three living people today, heard another bunch of people die. Maybe five to ten living people against about a thousand walking dead people. He wondered how many people where still out there, if it really was a global thing.

The younger twin turned the corner and cursed in surprise when he saw his reflection in the windows opposite him. He was pointing his gun at it and stared at it for a moment. It was pretty much dark outside and only a couple of street lamps were still working. Apart from his own reflection and the one of his brother, who was standing behind him now, he couldn't see anyone outside. There were a couple of abandoned cars standing on the road, with their doors wide open. He could see bits of papers flying around in the wind , but there was no living soul outside. He couldn't see anyone at least. Murphy stared at his reflection and was surprised at what he saw, what he looked like. There were blood stains and dirt everywhere, covering his face, his clothes, everything. His eyes were wide open and he was shaking because of the exhaustion and fear, and for a second he had believed to have seen himself as a walker. He startled when Connor placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, looks like there aren't any walkers out there. We'll go upstairs and try ta get a better look from up there. At least we don't see any walkers right now."

Murphy snorted and put his gun away to get his machete instead.  
"Yeah, ye know what I see? Fuckin windows all over the place."

Connor frowned.  
"So?"

"Maybe there aren't any walkers here fer now, but when they come then it will be easy fer them to make it through this shit.  
All they gotta do is push and push, won't take a lot to make it break."

Connor snorted and approached the door that led outside to check if it was open. He started shaking and kicking it but it wouldn't open.

"Looks like they locked this place up fer good. This is a fuckin shopping center, Murph.  
People designed those doors'n windows so no one gets in and steals their stuff so easily."

Murphy walked up to the windows and started kicking and hitting them with his machete to check them himself.

"Yeah, but yah bet that they haven't tested them fer a herd of hungry flesh-eating lame brains like the one we saw back at Mass Pike."

Connor growled and turned to face his brother.

"So what is yer fuckin plan then, huh? Keep walking underground? Rely on fuckin electricity and a bunch of flashlights? It is gettin dark outside, and you bet those things ain't fucking sleeping. Fer what I've seen, I think they work through hearing and smelling, and we're dependent on sight. No matter how dumb those fuckers are, they stand a pretty good chance against us at night. There may be glass everywhere, a lot of windows and doors and space, but at least it's locked up. And those fuckers don't know we're in here. As soon as it's day we'll get te fuck outta here, cos we gotta get to the terminal, I give you that, but if we're just gonna run out there like headless chicken and rely on fuckin possibilities that might not be true, then we might as well just fuckin shoot ourselves!" Connor yelled and glared at his twin. "'m tryin to fuckin keep us alive, so quit it with yer fucking negative attitude and bitching!"

Murphy shoved him hard.  
"So what do ye think 'm trying to do here? You don't think 'm trying to keep us alive?!"

Connor just stared at his twin for a moment and sighed gently. He put his hands on his hips and shifted.  
"Okay. Alright. Let's just...stop this shit. This whole thing's fuckin with us. Let's...let's just stop fighting. All we got is each other here."

Murphy frowned and looked back at his twin. He was still mad at Connor because of all his stupid plans, but then he figured that his brother was right.  
He walked past him and approached the other door which seemed to separate the T-Station from the actual shopping center.

"Let's get going, we don't have ta stand here in front of those fuckin windows like we're ready to eat fer those fuckers."

He grabbed the door handle and pulled but the door was locked as well.

"Oh fuck me, of course it's locked" the dark haired twin growled and looked at his brother. Connor came closer and started shaking the door as well.

"Huh, we break it and it would be easy fer the walkers to get in, too" he murmured and turned around to have a look behind them.

"There's an elevator, maybe it's still working leads up there" he said and approached it.

"Fuck it" Murphy answered, pulled his gun and shot the bottom glass of the door. Connor turned around and stared at the hole in disbelief.

"Are you fuckin stupid?!"

His brother used the hilt of his machete to make the hole even bigger. Not only was it the hole itself which worried Connor about, but also the noise his brother was making.  
The shattering of glass echoed through the empty halls for several minutes then Murphy stopped.

"Looks like I got us a way in" he announced, looked at his brother and turned around to step through.

"Come on! 't was yer idea ta come here, so there you go."

The blonde twin followed reluctantly and had quite some trouble fitting through the hole since he was taller and a bit more muscular than his younger half.

"Yeah, you sure don't try ta get us fuckin killed, might as well ring a fuckin bell to let them know we're here. Wanna smash some more windows while yer at it?"

Murphy raised an eyebrow and went back to help his brother.

"Fuck you" he murmured and grabbed Connor's hand to pull.

The older MacManus ripped a hole in his pea coat during the process and cursed even more.

"Now that I think about it, should just let you here, being stuck like that. Nice way t'cover up the hole and keep the walkers out" Murphy grunted and Connor looked up.

"Oh fuck you."

They managed to get the blonde twin through the hole and adjusted their clothes on the other side of the door. They were now standing in the giant entrance hall of Prudential center, with big windows and revolving doors to their right and a staircase and two escalators as well as countless plants to their left. Murphy looked up to eye the giant glass dome. He could see the stars and the sky, as well as the dark silhouette of the Prudential building. There were no lights on in every single skyscraper he saw, which made the whole thing even more grotesque and scary. Boston was pretty much dark now. Except for a few lights. Connor inspected the hole in the door once more and scratched the back of his head absently.

"We'll have t'find something to cover it up."

Murphy looked back down at his brother, who was kneeling next to the door. Both twins scanned the hall for something, and when Connor saw all the plants and flower pots he got an idea.

"See that big ass palm over there? Let's just move it in front of it."

He pointed at a 13 feet high palm on the other side of the hall, which was standing right next to the very end of the display windows. Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?"

Connor got up and walked towards it.  
"Aye, of course I'm fucking serious. You think placing something small and lightweight in front of it will give us the protection we need, dumbass? It's yer fault after all!"

The younger twin rolled his eyes and followed his brother to help him with the plant. Moving it was more problematic than they had thought. The palm was so heavy that they could hardly move it to the other side of the hall, and since they were so exhausted because of all the running and hiding they nearly gave it up half way through. After a couple of minutes and countless curses they managed to place the plant in front of the hole they had made, and although they were completely out of breath and needed to sit down for a moment Connor was quite content with the end result. The paranoia was seriously getting them by now. The windows and free sight was driving them insane, and they found themselves looking outside every couple of minutes, whenever they believed to see something move in the corner of their eye. There still weren't any walkers outside and they still couldn't hear anything or anyone inside the shopping center, but that wouldn't stop them from being overly cautious and careful. They were slowly catching breath again, and after looking up at the stars for a bit Murphy looked back at his brother.

"So what's the plan now? We're in, and?"

Connor looked up at the unmoving escalators and stairs.

"We go up there, check the other exits and doors, and once we've made sure that the place is somewhat secure we find a small shop and crash there. 's gonna  
take a while, considering how big this place is. We're gonna be exhausted. As soon as we're done you can get a couple of hours of sleep, I keep watch."

Murphy raised an eyebrow.  
"Take turns?"

Connor nodded and got up.  
"Can't risk sleeping here without making sure the place stays safe."

He offered his twin a hand.

"Aye" Murphy said and together they headed for the stairs.

Prudential center was a two storey shopping hall which consisted of five arcades, five courts, six parking garages and over 70 retailers and restaurants. What was so very characteristic about the mall were its many glass domes and roofs as well as its direct access to skyscrapers like the Prudential Tower, Hynes convention center, 101 and 111 Huntington Avenue. As soon as the twins reached the very top of the stairs they had to realize how big the complex really was. They were now facing over 300 yards of arcades and shops in front of them, with trees , benches and market stalls blocking their view. It was hard to make out any walkers or unexpected visitors this way, and Murphy came to the conclusion that it was impossible to make sure the place was safe.

"We should go" he said quietly and Connor turned his head to look at his twin with a frown.

"What? You stupid? This place is perfect."

"This place is a fucking _death trap_!" Murphy hissed, but his brother ignored him and started walking.

"Connor!"

The blonde twin kept ignoring him and checked the first door, the entrance to the first shop to their right which happened to be Barnes&Noble. The door was locked, and Connor checked all the other entrances and windows just to be safe. He got out his flashlight and tried to see if anyone or anything was trapped inside, but there was nothing apart from books, dvds, cds and toys.

"Clear" he whispered and went over to the next shop.

Murphy just stood there at the top of the stairs and watched his brother. He couldn't believe that Connor was really thinking that this was a _good_idea. He could see a path to his left, one of the many arcades that made its way around South Garden, a plaza right in the center of the whole complex. Once again he could see the Prudential right in front of him. A dark, abandoned reminder of what their society had used to be. Dependent on jobs and offices and paper work. Murphy decided that it was useless to keep arguing with his brother, since it looked like Connor had made up his mind anyway. The younger twin started walking and kept an eye on the left side of the arcade, where all the windows where facing the park. It didn't surprise him that the doors were also locked, and part of him wondered if the outbreak had happened late at night over here, when business hours had been over and the whole place had been locked down over night. It was strange to see it so tidy and polished to a high finish, considering how much blood, death and guts they had seen out there, back in Fenway and at the interstate. It almost seemed like they were back to normality, like someone had just forgotten them and locked them up in this place. Maybe had just been dreaming the whole time? Maybe someone had really locked them up in here. Maybe he was sleeping right now, while they were waiting for the next morning and people to get them out of here. He looked at his reflection again and figured that this couldn't possibly be a dream. There was just too much blood and dirt everywhere. Everything was true. Everything was fucked up and dangerous. The younger twin sighed and turned around to see where his brother was, only to see that he was alone all of the sudden. He stopped walking and scanned the arcade, but his twin was nowhere to be found.

"Connor?" he shouted and waited for an answer, but no answer would come.

"Connor!"

His twin answered just a split second later and in a way Murphy hadn't expected him to respond. He could hear a loud and surprised scream coming from the inside of one of the small shops right next to the entrance to 111 Huntington.

"Connor!" Murphy yelled once more and started running.


	16. Tabby

Aaand another new chapter.

**a little side note:**  
_It is a biblical name from Acts 9:36 in the Bible, in which Tabitha is a woman raised from the dead by Saint Peter. Tabitha (also called Dorcas, meaning "gazelle") lived in the city of Joppa, approximately thirty-four miles from Jerusalem, where she was a follower of Jesus. The first mention of her is in Acts, which states that Tabitha was a woman "…full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died…"_

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 16 - Tabby

* * *

Murphy could still hear someone screaming inside the shop. He crashed through the door to the small fashion store in sheer panic, fearing that a walker had managed to bite his brother. He knew that the screaming was way too high-pitched for a grown man but that wouldn't stop him. When he entered he saw Connor right in the middle of the fashion store, staring and shouting at someone who was standing next to the counter. The dark-haired twin approached his brother to get a better look at what was going on, and once he was standing next to Connor he saw who was causing so much trouble. There was a little girl hiding behind the counter, staring at them with wide eyes and screaming as loud as she could. She was about eight years old and had long brown pigtails.

"Just calm down! We're not gonna hurt you! We're not like them either!"  
Connor shouted and tried to calm her down, but as soon as he tried to get closer she started throwing things from the counter at them.

"Jesus fuckin christ, make her stop!" the older twin shouted and fought socks and underwear, which the little girl was throwing right in his face.

Murphy eyed her head to toe. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a maroon sweater and a white jacket. The girl didn't look like she had come in direct contact with any of the infected, since her clothes were clean and there was no blood. He turned around to search the store for anyone else. The younger twin could see a bunch of clothes just behind the counter and there were all sorts of candy wrappers and other waste lying around. It looked like someone had used the place as some sort of hideout, and judging by the absence of any other bags and luggage apart from a small hello kitty bag it looked like the girl had been all by herself until now. Connor was still cursing and fighting whatever the girl decided to throw at him, and soon all the yelling and screaming was starting to annoy Murphy.

"Connor shut the fuck up!" he shouted and his twin looked at him in surprise.

"What? Ow! Jesus!" the blonde cursed when a shoe hit his head.

Murphy put his arms up in the air where the girl could see them and approached her slowly. He just looked at her, and while she was still busy screaming at Connor and fighting him she also seemed to get interested in the other twin. She backed off slowly and widened her eyes when the black-haired twin got closer, but instead of yelling and cursing Murphy decided to take it slow and stay calm.

"Look, we ain't gonna hurt ye, but if yer gonna keep screaming like this the others might come as well. And _they _sure as hell wanna hurt you.  
So how about you stop yer screaming now? Where's yer ma?"

The girl froze and frowned.

"Oh thank god" Connor murmured and got rid of a sock which was lying on his shoulder.

The girl glared at him and threw another shoe at the older twin, but Connor managed to catch it. She eyed the twins for a moment and stopped screaming.

"You're talking funny" she croaked, her voice hoarse from all the screaming. Murphy chuckled and let his hands drop.

"Aye, you could say that. 'm Murphy, and the other one ye don't seem t'be too fond of's me brother Connor."

The girl shifted and started playing with her hands nervously.

"Brother?"

Murphy nodded and looked at Connor.

"Aye" he said and turned his head again.

"I've got a little brother, too" she murmured and the dark-haired MacManus raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so? Where's he then? He with ye?"

The girl turned her head to look at the place where she had been sleeping for the past couple of days.

"He was sick and mommy said she would take him to the doctor. I'm supposed to wait here and look after our shop."

She turned her head again, grabbed another pair of socks and glared at Connor.

"She told me not to let any strangers in."

"Oh come on, we already told you, we're not gonna hurt you, kid! We'd never.."

"Well, we just told you our names. We're not strangers, we're Murphy and Connor. But we don't know who you are" Murphy interrupted his twin and smiled at the girl.

"Ye know what?"

He put both his hands on his machete and took it to place it on the ground. Then he showed the girl his two guns, which made her gasp and take one of the many heavy folders from under the desk to throw it, but Murphy placed both his guns on the ground next to his machete and stepped away.

"Just like we said. We promise we ain't gonna hurt ye. We just wanna talk, okay?"

Murphy leered at his brother who frowned. "Put yer shit down, Connor" he hissed and his brother snorted.

"What? No fucking way?"

The girl glared at the older twin and raised the file to signalize that she was going to throw it. Murphy saw her silent threat and tried not to laugh.

"Come on yah retard, we can't fuckin mess with this girl, she's too tough man"

Connor glared at the girl and they spent a good minute trying to stare each other down.

"All right, jesus" he finally gave in and put his weapons down as well.

"Guess yer right, she's _way_too tough" he murmured and Murphy nodded. He looked back at the girl who was obviously fighting a triumphant smirk.

"Okay now?" the younger MacManus asked and the girl frowned. She was looking at Connor again, who seemed seriously pissed by now.

"He must wait outside mommy's shop."

"Are you f.."

"Okay. He's gonna wait in front of the door and keep an eye out" Murphy said and turned around to look at Connor. His twin glared at him with an angry frown.

"Yer not seriously telling me that I'm supposed ta wait out there with no fucking weapons. Seriously Murph, now's not the time t' give in to the kid's silly demands.  
I mean I get it, she's scared and everything, but we gotta focus now."

"Just do it. Have a cig. She obviously doesn't like yah. Can't blame her."

"Oh fuck you" Connor growled and headed for the door. He took the machete with him nevertheless and leaned against the door frame.  
The blonde twin lit a smoke and exhaled loudly.

"You gonna tell me yer name now?" Murphy asked when he turned around to look at the girl again. She was still looking at Connor but put the file back.

"Tabetha"

Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"That's an unusual name, Tabetha."

She nodded.

"I don't like it. Everyone calls me Tabby."

"Okay then, Tabby. Have you really been all by yerself here til now?"

The girl nodded and stared at her makeshift bed.

"Yes. Mommy left three nights ago" she said quietly and sighed.

Murphy didn't know what to say. He eyed the girl, saw all the candy wrappers and clothes, the hello kitty bag.

"Wow, fuck" he murmured and turned around to look at his brother. Connor was staring out of the window on the other side of the arcade, the one that was facing South Garden. When he looked back Tabby was staring right at him.

"I think I know your faces. You were on tv once."

Murphy rolled his eyes.

"Oh jesus..nah, I don't think so. We've just got those...faces. So yer ma went ta see some doctor you say? Did she say any name, any place?"

The little girl shook her head.

"No, she just told me to wait for her to come back."

Murphy bit his lip and shook his head. Whoever the woman had been, she sure as hell had been crazy to leave the kid here like this. All on herself, without any food or any real protection. They still had no idea what had happened on this side of the barricades, when the outbreak had really hit Boston, and most importantly, where everyone was, but it dawned on him that things had taken a very bad turn. He felt it in his guts that there was something wrong. He put his hand on his mouth and rubbed it absently. He had no idea what they were supposed to do with the kid now. Of course, there was no way they could just leave her here. It was obvious that her mother wasn't going to come back, considering all the chaos and destruction they had seen out there, but how where they supposed to look after her? They had been around kids every once in a while, and they loved them, but they had no idea how to actually _care _for a kid.

"Let me just...talk. Talk to my brother fer a second, okay? Don't run off or anything."

Tabby nodded and turned around to sit down on her makeshift bed.  
Murphy looked over his shoulder once more just to make sure that she was staying, then he stepped outside to stand next to his brother.

"She throw any shoes at ye as well?" Connor asked and snorted.

"Gave me a fuckin heart attack in there, man. I nearly shot a fuckin kid. I thought she was a walker."

Murphy snatched the cigarette from his brother's mouth and took a drag.

"Well, she ain't. Trouble is, she's been in there fer three fuckin days, Connor. All on her own."

His twin shifted and looked at him.

"Seriously?"

Murphy nodded and gave him the cigarette back.

"Aye. Her mother ran off. We can be pretty fuckin sure she's dead. I mean she'd have come back here otherwise, don't ye think? Name's Tabetha by the way."

"Tabetha? Who'd name their kid Tabetha?"

"Obviously some crazy chick who leaves her kid alone in a fuckin shopping center during the apocalypse."

Connor snorted and turned around to look at the girl. She was sitting next to the counter and searched her hello kitty bag. It was ridiculous to see a kid in this.  
After everything they had seen today. After everything they had been through.

"Aye, apocalypse sure is the right thing ta call this shit" the blonde murmured and looked to his right to see if there was anyone, any walker roaming through the large center court.  
He couldn't see anything. They were still on their own.

"What should we do 'bout her?" the dark-haired twin asked.

Connor blew out some smoke and dropped his cigarette to put it out.

"She say anything about her mother? Where she went? Maybe te terminal?"

Murphy shook his head and watched Tabby.

"No, just said she left with her brother, tryin t'get to some doctor. Kid doesn't know shit man. Fuck."

"Well, we obviously can't just leave her" the older MacManus said and looked at her as well.

The dark-haired twin nodded and folded his arms.

"Aye. I was thinking the same."

Connor frowned and took a deep breath.

"But..it's a fuckin kid man. How are we sapposed to look after a kid? I mean even before shit went down we weren't exactly father material"

Murphy snickered.

"Aye"

The older twin patted his brother's shoulder and started walking.

"And I thought this couldn't get any worse."

* * *

Connor knew that they would be a lot faster if only they could split up. But it was impossible. There was no way he would let his brother wander about alone now that there could be walkers lurking behind every corner. Another problem was Tabby. It was impossible to keep an eye on the girl and check the shopping center for any threats at the same time. She still wouldn't talk to him and he couldn't really blame her. The older MacManus was sure that he had really scared the living daylights out of the girl when he had entered the fashion store like this, with guns drawn, a machete in his hand and bloodstained clothes. Back at the T-station he had had the chance to take a look at his reflection in the window, and he knew he looked terrible. The smell wasn't exactly any more inviting either. They had almost reached the very end of Back Bay Arcade and Connor wondered how there could possibly be so many fashion stores. They all looked the same, they all offered the same overpriced clothes. He started shaking and kicking another door only to find it closed, and when he turned around to see how his brother was doing on the other side he nearly bumped into Tabby, who was standing right in front of him.

"Jesus" Connor gasped and stopped walking to look at her with a frown. "Found something little girl?"

She shook her head and kept staring at him. Connor sighed and nodded. He nudged her and turned around to keep walking. He didn't know why he was feeling weird around her. He had always loved kids, but all her screaming and panicking had made him keep his distance from her. There was something about her that made him feel uncomfortable. Maybe her eyes, because it felt like they were piercing right through him, or maybe it was the sheer paradox of seeing something so innocent after everything they had been through today.

"Alright then, keep yer eyes open" he murmured and turned his head to look at his brother.

Murphy was doing the exact same thing on the other side, looking inside shops, shaking and kicking doors and windows to make sure they were locked.

"Are your guns real?" Tabetha asked and followed the older MacManus to the next door.

Connor started shaking it again, but it was locked just like any other door he had come across during the last 30 minutes. The Irishman looked down on himself where he had put his Berettas in his leg holsters and nodded.

"Well of course they're real, aren't they."

"Can I touch them?"

The blonde looked up and raised an eyebrow.  
"'_They are real_' pretty much answers the question, don't ye think little girl?"

He reached the entrance to Saks Fifth Avenue, the largest fashion store located at the far East corner of Prudential Center. Connor tried to see if anything was moving in there, but the store was so large and filled with clothes and other luxury goods that it was impossible to tell if it contained any unwanted guests or not. He cursed and shook the doors.

"Fuck" he murmured and shielded his eyes to get a better view.

"You're swearing a lot" the little girl next to him noticed and Connor startled.  
He had been so caught up with checking the store that he had forgotten about her standing right next to him.

"Aye, sorry about that, little girl. Don't think you can do that now just cos we're doing it. 'm sure yer Ma'd kill us. So, I can do that, you can't, comprendre?"

Tabby folded her arms and glared at him.

"You're not my dad. And I'm not a little girl either. I'm nine. That's almost ten."

Connor looked at her in surprise and tried not to laugh. He couldn't hide an amused smirk.

"Okay, what am I supposed to call ye then?"

"How about you call me by my name? Your big brother is doing it."

The blonde twin started laughing which made Murphy turn around and look at them. _Of course he had told her that he was the older one. _

"Well look at that Murph, we got ourselves a little princess with some serious attitude, she could be yers" Connor announced and his brother snorted.  
The dark-haired twin turned around again to check the last but one door on his side.

"Am I allowed ta call you by yer name then? Considering how you reacted ta me back at yer store? I thought I wasn't allowed ta talk to you."

Tabby eyed him head to toe for a good minute and relaxed her arms.

"It's okay. You can call me Tabby" she said and offered him her hand.  
Connor looked at it and snickered. When the Irishman took her hand and shook it the girl started grinning.

"Nice meeting ye, Tabby. You can call me Connor, or uncle Connor..or.."

"Okay, I'm sorry, you're not bad, bye" she responded as fast as lightning, let go of his hand and ran back to the other side where his brother was standing.

Murphy was busy shaking the big double door that separated the complex from Copley Bridge, a glass overpass that connected Prudential Center with Copley Place.  
Connor smirked and watched his younger half and the girl for a moment.

"I did it. He really isn't scary" he heard Tabetha say and snorted. He saw Murphy looking at the girl and nudging her shoulder.

"See? Told yah" his younger half responded and resumed his work.

Connor shook his head and laughed gently. He let go of the door handle and went over to the next store, which happened to be a dvd shop. He wasn't surprised to find it locked. Maybe they were lucky. Maybe all the doors were locked. Maybe Prudential Center had closed its doors just before the original outbreak, which meant that there could be no walkers in this building. It really looked like they were actually lucky for once. Connor felt his optimism growing. At first he had been even more worried when they had found Tabby, simply because he had been scared of the possible responsiblity and danger. Looking after himself and Murphy was one thing, but a kid? He approached the next shop which brought him closer to his brother and the little girl, and as he looked at her he also felt hope. She meant hope and life, which was exactly what they needed now. Maybe she was a sign from god, to let them know that there was still a chance, that everything was going to be okay.

"Ah shit, Connor!" he heard Murphy say and turned around in surprise. His brother and Tabetha were standing in front of a door which seemed to lead outside and back on the street. He noticed that Murphy was resting his hand on the door handle, and when he pushed it down the door opened with a creak.

"This door's open. And there's blood on the ground."


	17. Blood Trail

new chapter! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I just moved into my own flat and university life's keeping me busy rn!  
But I will keep writing and posting. I thought I could finish this fic til season 3 of Walking Dead, but I don't think I can manage that.

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 17 - Blood Trail

* * *

Murphy opened the door slowly and carefully. He could see a blood trail leading out of the building.  
Connor and Tabetha were right behind him, and the girl made it very clear that she didn't like it at all.

"I wanna go back inside and wait in mommy's shop, please" she begged, her voice shaking with fear.

The twins had positioned her right between them, with Murphy up front and Connor right behind her. As soon as they exited Prudential center she glanced around in fear. The older MacManus placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down and push her forward at the same time. The trio made their way to the end of the terrace of the california pizza kitchen.

"Can we please go back in? I'm scared, what about the monsters?" Tabby asked again and stopped walking to look at Connor. Murphy, who was still busy following the trail and keeping an eye out for walkers, didn't notice that they had stopped, so he kept walking. The blonde MacManus looked at the kid in front of him and back at his brother. Murphy was making his way down the stairs and to an abandoned Mercedes car which was parked on the sidewalk with one of its doors open. Connor looked back at Tabetha and knelt down to be at eye level with her.

"Look, I know yer scared, Murph and me, we're scared, too. But you gotta be brave, okay? Everything's gonna be fine, but you gotta be quiet. Can you do that fer me?"

Tabby nodded but didn't seem any less scared. Connor sighed and put both his hands on her shoulders.

"God's watchin over us, so ye don't have ta be scared. We're gonna protect you. "

She started chewing on her upper lip and stared at the older twin.

"You mean like guardian angels?"

Connor snickered.  
"Aye, you can say that if ye want."

"Mommy said that angels are watching over me and Dan."

"Dan? Is that yer little brother?"

Th girl nodded and the blonde MacManus smiled.

"Aye, of course. Well she's right."

He got back up and put his hands in the pockets of his pea coat. He was used to playing with his pennies in there when he was nervous, and when he grabbed a view coins his fingers touched something else. For a second he was confused and took the object to get it out of his pocket. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that it was the necklace from the walker from the stadium. The small silver cross. Connor just looked at it for a moment and Tabetha watched him curiously. The older MacManus looked back at her.

"You know what.."

He knelt back down and showed her the necklace.

"Take that. Lucky charm. It'll protect you."

He made sure that there was no more blood on the chain and cross, then he put it around the girl's neck.

"Means god's watching over ye" he added and smiled at her.

"Now, ye gotta be brave, aye?"

Tabby took the cross in her hand and glanced at it. She twirled the chain around her little fingers experimentally and smiled happily.

"I'll try."

Connor smirked and ruffled her hair.  
"Now there's a good girl"

Tabetha frowned and looked at him.

"I'm not a dog."

The older MacManus raised an eyebrow and wanted to say something but froze when his brother called. "Connor" he heard Murphy whisper and got up to see where his twin was.  
The black-haired MacManus was standing by the car downstairs, with a hand placed on its open door. He nodded towards the abandoned vehicle to signal them to come down the stairs as well. Connor looked at Tabetha again, who was still examining her new necklace.

"Come on, let's go"

* * *

They were half way down the stairs when Tabetha stopped walking again. Connor didn't notice at first. He walked over to his brother to get a better look at the car.

"Well, what's the matter with this one?"

He could see even more blood inside, covering the expensive white leather driver seat, steering wheel and window.

"Wow, are ye tellin me that walkers are able ta drive cars now?"

Connor got back up and glanced over the roof to scan the surrounding area for walkers or anyone else. When he looked back down to the ground he noticed the blood trail again. Connor turned around to see where it led and swallowed hard when he realized that it was the same trail they had found _inside _Prudential Center. He finally noticed Tabetha, who was still standing on the stairs and stared at the car with wide eyes. The twins looked at each other and without saying a single word the younger knew that it was his job to act and take care of her. Murphy sighed and started walking back to the girl, whereas Connor leaned down to search the car for any clues.

"What's the matter?" Murphy asked and eyed Tabetha, but she wouldn't stop staring at the car. She was still clinging to the necklace Connor had just given her.

"Ye don't have ta be scared, there's no one in there, we're all alone here fer now" the younger MacManus tried to reassure her and turned around to look at his brother, who had walked around the car and sat down on the bloody driver seat. He didn't really know how to handle scared kids. He liked Tabetha, but right now her fear and vulnerability annoyed him.

"That's my mommy's car" Murphy heard Tabby say and widened his eyes in surprise.

* * *

"Fuck" Connor murmured and eyed the little girl who was sitting on the stairs opposite them. The MacManus twins were leaning against the black Mercedes and watched her. The young girl was staring down to her feet where the blood trail was just a couple of inches away from her white shoes.

"Ye sure that's her car? You got any idea how many people fuckin own a black Mercedes in Boston? Could be anybody's" the blonde murmured and Murphy snorted.  
He looked up at the sky where he could see the dark silhouette of the Prudential tower and 101 Huntington. It was dark by now, and it was strange to see the towers and city without any lights on.

"She recognized the fuckin stuffed animal in the backseat. Said it's her brother's. The kid can't make shit up like this."

Connor noticed the blood to their feet again.

"So what, her mother never made it to the terminal? Maybe the other kid was bit, maybe it's his blood and.."

"She said her brother wasn't bleedin and could still walk when her mother left with 'im."

"Where the fuck is she then? Maybe she came back, could explain the blood trail, maybe she got bit but managed t'escape, went back here, got inside there with her keys or something and now she's stumblin around in there as a walker? We didn't exactly get the chance to search the whole fuckin complex, we could've missed her"

Murphy folded his arms and shrugged.

"Could be" he murmured and Connor sighed.

"Well, ye know what that means."

His younger half turned is head to look at him with a frown.

"What?"

"If she really is in there, then we gotta find her and kill her. We still gotta make sure this place's safe fer the night. Besides, if she really got in there with her keys, then she might still have 'em. If we're lucky she could still carry the car keys for this one here" Connor concluded and patted the car.

"Meaning we could use it ta get to Black Falcon tomorrow morning"

Murphy snorted and glared at his brother. Connor saw the strange expression on his twin's face and frowned.

"What?"

His younger half shook his head and looked at Tabetha again.

"Nothin"

Connor snorted.

"Yeah of course, yer bitch face means 'nothin'. You fuckin know ye can't keep shit fram me."

Murphy narrowed his eyes and glared at his brother.

"It's her fuckin mother Connor. Just look at te kid, she's fuckin devastated, and yer talkin about killing her mother without showing any sort of pity or emotion.  
Didn't take ye long ta adjust to this shit then, did it?"

The older MacManus folded his arms and narrowed his eyes as well.

"So what am I sapposed ta do, huh? Let her keep walkin around in there and threatening our lives just cos she's her mother? 'm just trying ta get us outta here alive. There's no fuckin time fer pity now. You really think that thing wouldn't sink her teeth in the little girl's throat as soon as she sees her? Whoever she was, she's long since gone, thinking that she's still her mother's just fuckin stupid."

"Well, maybe ye just gotta believe. Force it into reality" Murphy growled and Connor glared at him.

He snorted and got up.  
"Jesus. I don't need this shit right now"

He closed the car door and made his way back to Tabby. The girl was still staring at her feet with her arms crossed.

"Come on, let's get back inside" he murmured and waited for her to get up. It took her a while to react.

"It's mommy's blood, isn't it?" she asked and looked up to face Connor. The Irishman could see countless emotions in her eyes. Fear, confusion, sadness. He knew the truth. Of course. It was in his guts. He knew that her mother was dead. It was the only reasonable explanation for the car and all the blood, the open door. Who else could've had the keys to the car and the shop, knowing that they belonged to a door at Prudential Center? It _had _to be her mother.

"We don't know, Tabby. Maybe it's someone else. Maybe they stole yer mother's car. We just gotta stay positive. Maybe yer ma got to the terminal with yer brother and sent someone back ta get ye"

It wasn't the first time he was lying to someone and once again he could almost feel the tattoo on his finger. Judging him. _Veritas, the truth. Liar.  
_He hated to lie, but right now it was the only option to keep the girl calm and protect their lives. He didn't need a hysterical crying little girl right now. Emotional children were hard to control. And no matter how old his brother was, he had learned that from his twin. How hard it was to control Murphy when he had another emotional outburst like a child.

"Really?" Tabetha asked and snapped him out of his thoughts. Connor sighed and nodded.

"Aye. We just have ta get back in there and find them."

She looked at Murphy who had caught up with them and stood right next to his brother.

"Really?" she asked again and waited for the younger MacManus to answer. Murphy turned his head to look at his twin. Connor eyed him warningly. _Don't fuck this up now._ The dark haired twin sighed and nodded. "Aye" he murmured without really meaning it. Right now he was just tired. Back in the old days he would've given Connor shit, got into a fight to let go off his anger, but right now he was so tired that nothing really mattered anymore. He followed his brother and Tabetha back up the stairs and inside Prudential center.

* * *

They needed their flashlights by now. There were a couple of emergency night lights, but it wasn't enough to actually see what was going on inside the shops and dark corners of the shopping center. They walked past all the shops they had previously checked, and after five minutes of walking Tabetha noticed another blood trail again. She grabbed the hem of Murphy's pea coat and pulled to get his attention. The younger MacManus turned his head to look at her. The little girl pointed at the small blood droplets on the floor and Murphy nodded. "Aye, good work" he murmured and looked up to see where his brother was. Connor was on the other side of the arcade and searched the ground and walls with his flashlight.

"Connor!" Murphy shouted and made his twin look up. The blonde MacManus nodded and made his way to the other side.

"What is it?"

"Tabby found another blood trail."

Connor pointed his flashlight at the trail and nodded.

"Well, let's see where it leads, shall we?"

They followed the trail until they reached another corridor that lead to 101 Huntington and another entrance to Barnes&Noble. There were no lights in this corner of the center, so all they had were their flashlights. Connor decided to go first and have the lead whereas Murphy and Tabetha stayed right behind him. The girl clung to the younger MacManus to a point where he could hardly walk, so he stopped walking for a moment to look at her.

"Tabby, jesus, I can't f.. I can't walk with ye clinging to me leg like that. You gotta get a hold of yerself now."

"But I'm scared"

"Shut up you two, I'm hearing some shit over here!" Connor whisper-shouted and both his twin and Tabetha looked at him. The older MacManus pointed at a door that led to the men's restroom. Murphy sighed angrily and took Tabby's hands to get them off his leg. The little girl pouted and folded her arms in protest. When the dark haired brother started walking again she stayed right where she was. Murphy approached his brother who was leaning against the door to hear what was inside.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, I think it sounds like a walker, I heard some banging just a sec ago" Connor murmured and grabbed his machete.

Tabetha just stood there and watched the two men. She could hear the banging, too. The girl startled and turned her head in surprise when she realized that the banging was coming from the room right next to her. She looked at the MacManus twins, who were fighting over who was supposed to open the door they were standing next to.

"I..I think it's coming from over here" she said quietly and with shaking voice, but neither of them would really listen to her.

"Yeah, I know yer scared, everything's gonna be fine, Tabby" Connor answered and his twin just nodded without looking at her.

"Aye, we're here."

Tabetha frowned angrily and spoke a little louder this time.

"I said it's coming from over here!"

Once again the twins ignored her because they were really shouting at each other by now.

"Why is it always me who's gotta do that shit? Who made you boss, you fuckin asshole!" Murphy yelled and shoved his brother, who shoved him back. Tabetha frowned even more and got angry herself. She hated how the two men ignored her just because she was a little girl. She approached the door slowly and put the hand on the door handle. She could still hear the banging inside, so maybe if she just opened the door then she would get some attention. Tabetha opened the door with shaky hands and pushed it open. For a couple of seconds nothing really happened. It took her eyes a while to adjust to the darkness. Tabetha blinked a few times and gasped when she saw a silhoutte moving through the shadows. The girl turned her head to look at the twins who were still fighting.

"I...uhm.."

She turned her head again to look inside the dark room to her right.

"H...hello?"

The shadow stopped moving and it looked like it was staring right at her. A second later she could her a low growl. Tabetha narrowed her eyes to get a better look. She gasped once more when the figure came closer.

"Mommy?"

"No! You look after the girl!" Murphy shouted and glared at his brother. Connor rolled his eyes and growled.

"She fucking told you that she thinks 'm fuckin scary and she obviously likes you more than me. I mean she keeps running after ye and someone's gotta look after her! I go in there and take care of whatever's fuckin in there, you bet's her mother, and as soon as I'm done we gotta check the rest of the.."

A loud and piercing shriek interrupted Connor mid sentence. Both twins turned their head in horror to see what was going on. There was a female walker who was grabbing Tabetha by her arms and tried to bite her. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and white blouse which was soaked with blood. Tabby started screaming again and looked at the creature in sheer terror.

"Mommy, you're hurting me, please stop! Murphy, help me!" she screamed and looked at the twins with wide eyes.  
Her mother, who was now a walker, tried to bite her neck and wrestled her to the ground.

"Tabby!" Connor shouted and both twins ran to help her.

Murphy grabbed the girl by her shoulders and tried to get her away from the walker whereas Connor grabbed the woman from behind to pull her back.

"Take her away fram here!" the blonde MacManus yelled and glared at his twin, who had finally managed to free the little girl from her mother's tight grip.  
The older brother was wrestling with the walker and managed to shove her away, further back into the dark hallway.

"No! Mommy!" Tabetha screamed and fought Murphy's grip. She was trying to run back to her mother, and the dark haired MacManus had quite some trouble keeping her in place.

"I said take her away!" Connor spat and shoved the walker once more when it tried to attack him again.

"'m fuckin tryin!" Murphy answered and lifted Tabby up to carry her away. The girl was still kicking and screaming and fighting his grip. Connor just looked at the growling and drooling woman in front of him. She had a superficial bite wound on her neck and a nasty bullet wound to her right shoulder. The walker tried to get hold of him again, but the Irishman just moved out of her way. He could still hear Tabetha crying and shouting for her mother. The woman growled and snarled at him.

"Look, 'm sorry this happened to you" he murmured and tried not to get angry again.

Tabby screamed for her mother once more.

"We'll look after her. I promise."

The older MacManus sighed and reached for his gun.

"I wish there was a fuckin easier way fer her, but looks like I got no other choice. You'd just kill her."

He pointed his gun at the woman's head and took a deep breath.

"Tabby! No!" he heard Murphy shout and pulled the trigger a second later. Tabby's mother was knocked off her feet and fell to the ground, leaving another bloody trail on the wall next to her. Connor took a deep breath and tried to keep calm, which was quite hard to achieve. He had lost count of how many people he'd had to kill today. Friends. People that mattered. It had been necessary, but it was still so frustrating. He put his gun away and searched his pockets for a couple of pennies. If they kept going like this they'd be out of pennies by tomorrow night. He shook his head angrily and turned around to see where his brother and Tabby were. The Irishman froze when he saw that the girl was standing right behind him, with her eyes widened in shock. Murphy was standing next to her, panting and out of breath. When Connor saw the look on Tabby's face he knew that the kid had just witnessed her mother's death. How he had shot her parent in the head. The blonde MacManus widened his eyes and looked at his brother. Murphy swallowed hard when he saw the girl and her mother's bloody corpse.

"I fuckin tried to keep her away, but she just fought me off with all her kicking and screaming and started running.." the younger twin tried to explain.

Tabetha started running again and fell to her knees right next to her mother's body. Connor just stared at the shaking and sobbing child to his feet, completely petrified and numb. He had shot countless people in his life, but never had he done it in front of a kid. Someone so _innocent_. He moved his hand through his hair and tried to stay calm, but he just ended up cursing.

"Jesus fucking christ, will it ever fucking _stop_?!" he yelled and started to walk up and down the hallway.

Tabby was still sobbing and crying for her mother. It wasn't exactly helping his own break down, so he tried to calm the girl down. Just to calm himself down.  
He knelt down next to her and put a hand on her back.

"Look, 'm sorry Tabby. I really.."

"Don't touch me!" she yelled and glared at him. Right now all the fear and innocence was gone, there was just hatred and grief. He was horrified to see something like this crossing a face like hers. He hated to see that this new world wasn't only fucking with them, but also with someone who was just a kid. He startled when Murphy put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. He knew what it meant. _It's okay. Let me handle this. _Connor growled and got up to leave and turn his back on the crying kid and the woman he had just shot. He needed a break. A break from this new world, this new self. He simply could not understand why it was so hard for him to adjust to all this, why after being in charge and being calm for over 30 years it had to be _him_ who lost his head and not his brother. Murphy, who had always been the hothead. Connor kept walking for a bit to keep his distance from them, to watch them and leave them to their thoughts. It was funny to see Murphy like this, so calm and grown up. He didn't know how his twin could be like this all of the sudden, but he thanked god for it. Because he had no idea how much longer he could actually keep it together. The older brother knew only one thing for sure: they needed to get away from all this. As soon as possible.


	18. No More

New chap! Sorry it's taken me so long! University's keeping me busy! But I ain't gonna stop writing and posting. I want to finish this fic. =)  
I don't know how many more chapters I'm going to write, maybe it's another 10-15? I'm not good at estimating stuff :D Let's just say, I've got 2 more big locations left after Prudential Center. And there's gonna be some plot twists. I think. :D I also saw that there's some more clicks on this story! Nice!  
I'm sorry, my English's still horrible, and I don't even know if the characters are IC. Sometimes I think they're too OOC. Oh well. I'm not perfect *shrugs*

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 18 - No More

* * *

Murphy had finally managed to get Tabetha away from her mother's bloody corpse. He knew that it would be better for the girl to get away from all this, back to her shop, just so she wouldn't have to look at her dead parent any longer, but it was impossible. He didn't want to leave Connor alone without any cover. They still had no idea how many walkers were inside the shopping center and he was pretty sure that Tabby's screaming had attracted them. If there were any. It was just a matter of time until they would be coming to get them. His twin was kneeling next to the dead woman and searched her pockets. He knew that it was necessary, but he was still disgusted by it. Connor was desecrating Tabby's mother with it. If god hadn't condemned them to hell for murdering people by now then he sure would condemn them after this, he thought and got angry.

"Connor, just leave it man. Let's get outta here" he said and stroke Tabetha's hair absently. The girl was still hiding her face in his pea coat and cried.

"I can't find the fucking keys" the blonde growled and searched her mother's pockets once more.

"Just stop it!" You got any idea what te fuck yer doing here?!"

Connor turned his head and glared at his brother.

"I know what te fuck I'm doing here! It's a fucking disgrace, d'you think I like it?! We gotta find te keys so we can get te fuck outta this goddamn place!"

"It was yer fucking idea ta come here!"

The older twin got up and approached his brother angrily.

"I know it was my fucking idea! How do you think we're gonna manage ta get to yer fucking boats huh? Walk?! Remember what happened last time we tried t'walk there? We got fucking mobbed and I nearly got eaten!" Connor yelled and Murphy glared at him.

"And what's the fucking point in getting there if we lose everything on our way?! Desecrating bodies, shooting mothers in front af their kids.."

"I told you to fucking look after her and take her away!"

"Stop it! Just stop! Tabby suddenly yelled and let go of Murphy. She covered her ears and looked at the twins in horror. Connor and Murphy looked at the girl in surprise when she started sobbing again. She was absolutely terrified and devastated. Not only because of the death of her mother but also because of the two men yelling and shoving each other with her caught right in the middle. The twins wouldn't say anything anymore and looked at each other, feeling guilty all of the sudden. Murphy sighed and knelt down to let her hug him and cry in his shoulder. He stroke her back and wouldn't stop looking at Connor.

"I know, sorry. We're sorry little girl, _aren't we_?"

The older swallowed and nodded.

"Aye."

He looked at them for a moment and waited for Tabby to calm down a bit, then he turned his head to have a look inside the room where her mother had been hiding.

"I'm gonna check the restroom, maybe she left them there" he said and left because he knew that he was still the main reason that Tabby was hysterical.

"Be careful" Murphy murmured and tried to calm the girl down.

* * *

Connor thought that he had gotten used to the smell by now. He had been wrong. As soon as he entered the restroom he started coughing and covered his mouth in disgust. The smell was awful. He had no idea how long Tabetha's mother had been trapped in here as a walker, when she had died and turned, but judging by the smell it must have been a couple of days ago. It was so dark that even his flashlight wouldn't really help much, and finding something as small as a bunch of keys would be even harder to achieve. He coughed once more and pulled a face as he searched the floor for anything, a purse, a handbag, anything the woman could have left her keys in. When Connor reached the toilet section he grabbed his machete and started kicking the doors in, but there were no other walkers to be found. He cursed when he reached the very last door and it was just another unemployed cabin.

"So much fer being lucky" he growled and shook his head.

"Connor?" he heard Murphy shout and sighed.

"'s okay Murph. Nothing in here!" he responded and turned around to check the sinks.

He nearly got a heart attack when he saw his reflection in the mirror and cursed once more.

"Jesus fuckin christ" he murmured and placed a hand on his chest. He could feel his heart pumping and pounding. He just stared at his reflection for a while. His face was bloodstained and dirty and he looked tired and angry. No wonder Tabby had been scared of him. He sighed and tried the water tap, but it didn't work. When he looked up again he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He turned around to look at the wall to his left and frowned. There was blood all over the tiles, which was why he hadn't really paid any attention to it before. He was used to bloodstains on walls and ceilings and floors by now, but this was different. The blonde MacManus pointed his flashlight at the wall and got closer.

"What te fuck?"

**TABBY GET O**

He read the bloody and messy letters and frowned. The "o" looked especially messy and he could see another bloody line right next to it. He was sure it was an unfinished letter. It looked like her mother had fallen to the ground just before finishing it. Connor pointed his flashlight at the ground and saw a jacket lying there below the writing.

"Murph!" he called out and waited for his brother to come and join him. Connor knelt down to search the jacket and let out a triumphant "ha!" when he found a bunch of keys. He looked at them and smiled when he saw the key to a Mercedes car. Connor checked the pockets for anything else and put the key in his trouser pocket. He heard both Tabetha and his twin gasp and groan when they entered the room and got up again.

"Leave her in front of the door, she doesn't need t'see it" the older said and looked at his twin when they were about to enter the section with the toilets.

"But I wanna come with you" he heard Tabby say and shook his head.

"No, just you Murph, stay back Tabby"

Murphy let go of the little girl's hand, despite her tries to hold on to him, and looked at her.

"Just stay right here where we can see ye."

"But..."

"Just do it, okay?"

Tabby looked at him and pouted. The younger twin rolled his eyes and approached his brother. He expected her to follow him anyway, being the stubborn child after all, but much to his surprise the little girl stayed right where she was.

"What is it?" Murphy asked and Connor pointed at the bloody writing.

"Christ, what is this? Fucking horror film?"

The blonde MacManus snorted.

"Yer getting that just now?"

"Get o.." Murphy read out aloud, avoiding Tabetha's name on purpose so he wouldn't scare her again. Connor flashed him the keys and the younger twin nodded.

"Aye, that's something."

His brother nodded and looked at the writing again.

"What is it?" Tabby asked and tried to get a look at it without stepping forward. Both twins ignored her and just looked at the bloody letters.

"Could mean a lotta things" Connor murmured and Murphy nodded.

"Aye. Get on a boat, Get someone whose name starts with an O..."

"Get outta here" Connor added and Murphy tilted his head.

"This could mean a lotta things as well, get outta this room, get outta Prudential Center.."

"Get out of Boston"

The younger MacManus snorted.

"No need t'tell us then, we already know that"

Connor chuckled and nodded.

"Aye."

Both twins fell quiet and stared at the writing for a while whereas Tabetha waited impatiently for them to come back to her.  
Connor suddenly sighed and hit Murphy's shoulder gently, which startled the younger twin.

"Come on let's go"

* * *

They were sitting on one of the benches in the middle of Back Bay arcade to rest for a bit and think about everything. Connor was standing in front of sitting Murphy and Tabetha and seemed lost in thoughts. The black-haired MacManus offered the girl a mars bar from his bag.

"I know that ye should probably eat something healthier, or something, but's all we can spare at the moment" he told her and opened the wrapper for her.  
Tabby nodded and took it with a smile on her face. She was about to start eating when Connor looked at her.

"What's that?"

Tabby rolled her eyes.

"You're not my daddy" she murmured and looked at Murphy.

"Thank you."

The younger twin smirked and nodded.

"Yer welcome"

Murphy watched her eat for a while and frowned.

"So what did ye eat when you were all on yer own here?"

"Candy."

Connor frowned.

"You've been eating nothing but candy fer three days."

Tabby swallowed and sighed.

"I borrowed some food from the food stores but then it started to smell funny."

Murphy scratched his nose and searched his pockets for his smokes.

"Well, it's rotting away now that there's no one getting rid af it. No one there t'get fresh food"

The blonde nodded.

"Aye, see? That's why I said canned food instead af yer fucking pizza back at Jerry's."

Murphy growled and rolled his eyes. He handed Tabby one of their water bottles and looked at his brother.

"So what are we gonna do now?" he asked and lit his cigarette. Tabby pulled a face and started waving her hand in front of her face to get rid of the smoke.

"Murph" Connor said and nodded at the girl.

His brother looked at her as well and sighed. He got up to stand next to his twin. Tabetha seemed pleased with herself, and the younger MacManus hated how she was bossing them around. Even worse, that they were letting her. _We got ourselves a little princess with some serious attitude _he remembered Connor saying and snorted. How true it was.

"So? What's te plan?" he asked again and looked at his brother.

Connor got out a cigarette as well and sighed.

"Wait fer sunrise, get te car and get te fuck outta here"

Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Sunrise? Are ye sure?"

His older half nodded and looked up at the glass roof.

"Aye, just look, it's pitch black out there, we wouldn't see a thing. Or any walkers. We stand a better chance with some light. Those fuckers out there don't need any sight, I think they rely on smell and sound. We need daylight to function. Besides, we're fucking exhausted Murph. We need ta rest t'be fit fer tomorrow.'s gonna be tough."

Murphy turned around to check the other end of the arcade.

"We didn't even check te whole place fer walkers yet."

Connor nodded.

"Aye, that's why 'm gonna stay awake and keep watch. So you two can get some sleep"

The younger MacManus frowned.

"'n what about you?"

"Gonna kick yer ass outta bed after three hours or so. Looks like we gotta take turns from now on. No more sleeping tagether."

Murphy snorted.

"Aye"

The twins turned their heads to look at Tabby only to see her crying again. She wouldn't make any noise, she just looked at her feet with the half eaten mars bar in her shaking hands. Connor and Murphy looked at each other and chewed on their lips. They still didn't really know how to handle any of this, how to take care of the kid. It was Connor who approached her this time, but not without looking at his brother once more. He sighed and knelt down in front of Tabetha.

"What's te matter?" he asked and mentally slapped himself for asking such a stupid question. There were walking dead people taking over their city and she had lost her mother just half an hour ago, so he _knew_what was the matter.

"I just thought.." she sniffed and looked at him with teary red eyes.

"I just thought that mommy should have been wearing a bracelet like the one you've given me" she sobbed and showed him the small cross.

"So god could've protected her, so he could've brought her back to me."

Connor sighed and turned his head in the general direction where he had shot her mother dead. Once again he felt guilty. He knew that it had been necessary, she had been a walker after all. Walkers were the new dangerous and evil beings now, he tried to remind himself. For the past couple of hours, back at Fenway, Mass Pike or down at the T-station he had adjusted to them killing walkers. He had always blended it out that they had once been people. If he hadn't done this then they would have been dead by now. But still, Tabetha's mother had made it more personal and more tragic again. Because family was different. He looked at Murphy for a moment and remembered his dream. What if his brother ever turned? Could he see him as evil and dangerous then? Could he bash his brother's brains in if he ever came back from the dead? The older MacManus frowned and growled. _Why the fuck was he thinking about something like that? It would never happen. There was no way that it was ever gonna come this way. Family was different. Because it was never gonna happen._

"God was protecting her" Connor finally answered and Tabby frowned.

"What?"

"Of course he was watching over yer mother. Because she's a mother, and god protects mothers. She came back here, didn't she? Because god was watching over her. Because he made sure that she could come back t'you."

Tabby sniffed and teared up again.

"But mommy's _dead_"

Connor nodded and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Aye, I know. And that's sad and unfair. But everything happens fer a reason. And some day yer gonna get yer answers. Trust me. One day yer gonna understand. But you gotta believe. Never question god's plans. And never doubt his faith in you. He's always watching. And if ye still don't believe me, then rest assured that Murph'n I are watching over you."

Tabby wiped her eyes and sniffed once more.

"Really?" she asked and Connor nodded.

"Really" he heard Murphy say and turned around. His twin was standing right behind him and looked at the girl as well.

Connor looked at Tabby again. He stroke her shoulder and got up.

"Come on. Let's go back t'yer shop and sleep fer a bit. It'll do you some good."

* * *

Connor was sitting on the ground and leaned back against the door frame. He had been on watch for only twenty minutes by now, but it was already driving him crazy. He didn't know what was worse, the boredom, the silence, the paranoia or the general freakishness of it all. The older MacManus had started cleaning their guns and machetes just to keep himself busy, but even that wouldn't stop his mind from drifting. They had been through so much today. First Eunice's death, then all the death around them, the stadium, Mass Pike, the baby corpse, the herd of walkers, the T-station, people that had obviously been massacred by the military, them hearing how a group of survivors got attacked and killed by another herd of walkers, finding Tabby, killing her mother. So much death, so much blood, so much chaos and now there was nothing but the utterly disturbing silence. He could hear the wind blowing outside, through the halls, through empty buildings and rooms. Connor was a grown man, and a tough one on top of that, but it was still freaking him out. Once again his mind came up with the big if's._ What if there were no boats? What if the car didn't work anymore? What if they didn't have enough gas? What if there were more walkers at the docks? What if there was the police? What if they were being arrested again? What if there was chaos everywhere? _He remembered the news reports. All the major cities. Europe. Asia. America. The dead were walking _everywhere_. Connor startled when Murphy came from behind him and sat down next to him. The older MacManus cursed and rubbed his forehead. They didn't speak for a while and just stared out of the opposite windows where they could see South Garden.

"You should sleep" Connor murmured but wouldn't look at his brother.

"You know I can't sleep when yer still awake. 's in me guts."

The older twin smirked. _Yeah, he knew how they worked. _He wouldn't say anything and concentrated on their guns again.

"Do ye think shit's ever gonna go back t'normal?" Murphy asked after a while and Connor looked at him. He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes with a yawn.  
Right now he was too tired for joking and fooling himself.

"I don't know, man. 's some tough shit" he responded quietly and Murphy nodded.

"Aye."

He swallowed hard.

"Some tough shit" he whispered and Connor just looked at his brother's profile. He hated to see his twin so sad and gloomy, but right now he didn't feel any different himself. They had been strong for pretty much the whole day, fighting and killing to survive, but now that things had gotten quieter and calmer they allowed themselves to be weak.

"'ve been thinking about so much shit in bed. 's why I couldn't sleep" Murphy went on and turned around to look at sleeping Tabby.

"Like what?" Connor asked and did the same. His brother shrugged and scratched his neck.

"I don't know. Loads af random shit. Like, what if this really is the end and it ain't ever gonna go back t'normal. All the things we can no longer do, all the stuff that's never gonna happen anymore."

Connor nodded.

"Aye, 've been thinking the same."

"No more nights out drinking at some pub."

"No more watching movies and drinking beer."

Murphy nodded.

"Aye, no more books and buying ciggies and things" he went on and looked at the sign of Barnes and Noble.

"No more reading newspaper articles about us and laughing about it" Connor murmured and Murphy kept nodding.

"No more news in general."

"No more friends."

They both fell quiet and swallowed hard. Right now it felt like the whole breakdown of society and normal life was really hitting them. Like a train at full speed.

"Well, at least we got each other, aye?" Murphy said and looked at his brother. Connor looked back at him and nodded.

"Aye, af course. Always. We promised after all."

Connor got them two cigarettes and lit them. When he handed his brother one Murphy just smirked.

"We should be hoarding that shit now. There might be no one left t'produce new ones."

The older MacManus chuckled.

"Aye."

They enjoyed their cigarettes and kept each other company for a while.

"Are ye scared, Murph?" Connor asked then and looked at his brother. His twin turned his head and nodded after a while.

"A bit."

Connor nodded.

"Myself as well."


	19. Morning After

Hey you people! Here's a new chapter. Just letting you know that I'm also writing the Salvy sequel "Damnation" at the moment, but I'm still gonna finish this little fic over here. Still having much fun with it after all ;)

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 19 - Morning After

* * *

Connor opened his eyes tiredly because he could hear some strange noises. For a second he didn't really know where he was or what was going on, then the smell of blood made him gasp. No matter how many times he had bled or smelled blood because of their job, he still hated the way it smelled. The older MacManus shifted and sat up when he realized that Tabetha was no longer lying next to him. "Tabby?" he murmured and turned around to see if she was anywhere else. They had been sleeping behind the counter, a nice hideout that protected them from all sides except for the entrance. Connor froze when he could hear strange noises coming from the other side. He listened up and identified them as slurping and biting sounds, like someone was chewing on something. A second later he could hear raspy breathing. _Walker_. The blonde MacManus grabbed his gun and got back on his feet. He was certain that there was a walker on the other side of the counter. The sounds and the smell fit all too perfectly._ But where the hell was Murphy? Where was Tabby? Why had his brother not taken care of that stinking bastard yet? It had been Murphy's job to keep an eye out._ Connor checked his magazine as quietly as possible, then he mentally counted to three and got up to peak over the counter and take aim. The walker had turned his back on him, but it made Connor gasp nevertheless. He could see how the undead was hovering over a bloody corpse, just a couple of meters away from him.

"Tabby!" Connor yelled when he realized that the bloody corpse was the little girl they had taken in.  
The walker turned his head at the sound of Connor's voice and glared at him . The older MacManus dropped his gun in shock and almost fell to his knees.

"Murph?" he whispered and the walker got up with an angry growl. The man who had used to be his beloved twin brother, his own flesh and blood with whom he had spent his whole life, had turned into a staggering and growling monster. Murphy started staggering in his direction, reaching out and fighting thin air with his bloody hands and clacking teeth.

"Murph, it's me! What te fuck happened t'ye?!" Connor gasped and shook his head.

He was still staggering backwards and hit his head on the shelf behind him. Murphy kept coming closer with fierce growls and made the most inhuman sounds. The blue in his eyes had disappeared, now they were bloody and grey, almost cloudy. His face was covered with blood and tiny pieces of flesh, and he had a nasty bite wound on his neck, right where his tattoo had used to be.

"What happened,t'you? It's me, Murph! Murphy!" Connor yelled and stared at him in horror.

Murphy didn't react to his pleas, he just kept coming until he managed to grab him by his shoulders.

"Murph, no! Don't!" his brother yelled, but it was already too late. Murphy growled and bit his throat.

* * *

Connor's eyes snapped open. The blonde MacManus let out a terrified gasp and sat up abruptly. His shirt was glued to his back and he could feel droplets of sweat running down his forehead. He grabbed his throat in horror and looked down on himself to check for any bite or blood, but apart from the dirt from their previous day there was nothing on his shirt. Connor sighed and turned his head to look at the spot next to him. Tabby was lying there with her back turned on him. She had buried her face in Murphy's shirt and held on to his pea coat, sleeping peacefully. The older MacManus let out a relieved sigh. His twin was also sound asleep and his chest was rising and falling slowly and steadily. Connor lay back down next to them and massaged the bridge of his nose. _Just a dream. Just another fucking nightmare, _he thought and shook his head. For a while he just stared at the ceiling and tried to forget these images. He didn't know how much longer he could take it. He was sure that everyone was having nightmares these days because of the things that were happening right now, but that wouldn't exactly make it any easier for him. He wasn't scared of walking dead people, no matter how creepy they were. No, he was scared of his brother's death. That was his worst nightmare, his worst fear. That his twin could die a horrible death and become one of them. Connor sighed and turned his head to look at sleeping Murphy. He was so glad that his brother was okay. He didn't know what he would do without him. He reached out to caress his twin's messy hair.

"Jesus fucking Christ.." he murmured and swallowed hard.

The images of his undead brother were still haunting him. He tried to calm down for a while. He frowned when he could hear noises coming from outside.  
Connor widened his eyes.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he shouted when realization hit him. He smacked the back of Murphy's head, which woke his twin up.

"What te fuck.." Murphy growled and shifted. Connor shook him angrily.

"Murph! Murph, wake te fuck up, jesus!"

"Quit yer yelling and shut te fuck up!" Murphy growled and covered his ears. Connor hit him again.

"Murph!"

The younger MacManus finally opened his eyes and glared at him.

"What?!"

"Who's keeping watch?!"

Murphy got rid of sleeping Tabetha and turned on his belly.

"Jesus, it's alright, I closed te fucking door and locked it tight. Been quiet the whole night..."

"Shh, does this sound like fucking alright to you?!" Connor whisper-shouted and put a finger on his lips.  
Both twins fell quiet and just listened. Then they could hear it, the dragging of tired feet, the tired groaning of countless undead.  
Murphy widened his eyes and looked at his brother.

"Is that..."

"Shh!" Connor hushed him and placed a hand on Tabetha's shoulder to wake her up.

"Tabby!"

The little girl shifted and moaned gently. Murphy sat up and shifted on his knees in the mean time. He reached for his gun and got up as slowly and quietly as possible. As soon as he was able to peek over the counter he cursed and dropped back down.

"Jesus! There's hundreds af them!"

Connor was still trying to wake Tabetha up.

"Tabetha! Ye gotta wake up!" he whisper shouted again and shook her once more. The little girl turned on her back and rubbed her eyes.

"Murphy?" she murmured and Connor shook his head.

"Listen, you gotta be brave right now, okay?"

The little girl widened her eyes and sat up.

"It's them, isn't it?" she asked. Connor grabbed her by her shoulders to keep her down.

"It's gonna be okay, ye hear me?" the older MacManus glared at his younger half who was packing their things in a hurry.

"Is there another way outta yer shop?" he went on and looked at the girl again.

Tabby started shaking and got even more nervous.

"I can hear them! I'm scared!" she said and Connor hushed her.

"Ye gotta keep it low! Murph?"

Murphy nodded and peeked over the counter once more.

"Fuck, it's a fuckin shitload! But looks like they don't know we're here yet..."

The blonde MacManus nodded and looked at the panicking girl again.

"Okay, listen, everything's gonna be okay, aye? Now, try t'focus, is there another way outta here?"

Tabby covered her ears because the groaning outside was scaring her. She nodded after a moment.

"There...there's a back door..I don't wanna die...I'm scared..."

Connor squeezed her shoulder and shook his head.

"Yer not gonna die, I promise...Murph, are ye sure that you locked the door tight?"

Murphy nodded and turned around to look at them.

"Aye, double checked it."

His brother hit the back of his head once more.

"Jesus fucking christ, we'd not be fucking stuck here with them outside if ye kept watch , you fucking asshole!" he whisper shouted and his twin shoved him.

"Fuck you! I was tired!"

Tabby started crying again.

"I don't wanna die..I'm so scared.." she sobbed and Connor sighed. He placed a hand under her chin to make her look at him.

"Listen, I know yer scared, me 'n Murph, we're scared, too. But ye gotta focus. Yer the only one who can get us outta here, so you gotta be brave. You can do it!"

Tabby sniffed once more and wiped her checks.

"Me? Why me?"

"Because yer the only one who knows how t'get outta here."

Murphy was still crawling all over the place to get their things together. He would peek over the counter every once in a while and cursed.

"Jesus Connor, we've gotta hurry, what's te plan?!"

The older twin let go of Tabby so he could have a look himself. He could see hundreds of walkers staggering up and down Huntington arcade, without any real destination. It looked like the entire shopping center had been overrun over night. Connor cursed and turned around again to sit next to Tabby and Murphy. He scratched his forehead and grabbed his pea coat.

"Looks like we brought'em with us. Ye saw it, pretty much all the doors were locked except fer the one we broke on our way in.  
And the gate back at Kenmore wasn't exactly locked up tight either.."

"Yeah, cos af yer stupid fuckin rope, seriously!" Murphy growled and Connor boxed his shoulder.

"Fuck you!"

He then turned his head to look at Tabby, who was a shaking mess by now.

"So, where's the other door?"

The little girl pointed to their right.

"Over there, it leads to the toilets, the ones we've been in yesterday, where we found.." She hesitated and swallowed. Connor nodded and patted her shoulder.

"Alright, that's perfect."

He moved so he was kneeling next to his brother, then he peeked over the other side of the counter to look where the exit was. He could see a door somewhere on the rear wall of the shop, located between two shelves that were full of women's underwear. Connor scanned the shop for any threats or problems. The only thing that was slightly problematic was that there were so many racks and clothes blocking their way and making it impossible to make a direct run for it. The older MacManus nodded and sat back down once more.

"All right, here's te plan. We grab our things, Murph, you carry Tabby on yer back, I take our bags."

Murphy raised an eyebrow and wanted to protest, but Connor was facing Tabetha already.

"Tabby, I want you to cling to Murph with all the strength you can gather, so that he doesn't have t'support you. He needs both his hands, and I want ye to squeeze yer eyes shut as soon as we're out. Just think about something nice and try not t'listen. It will be loud, but there's nothing we can do about et, can you do that fer us?"

Tabetha looked at him.

"Will you be shooting your guns?"

Connor turned his head to look at his brother. Murphy didn't seem to like his plan at all, but he wouldn't say anything. The older nodded and looked at the girl again.

"Aye, 'm afraid we're gonna have to. This is why we need you t'focus. We're gonna get you outta here, but you gotta be brave.  
Just like we've said, god is watching over us, ye don't have to worry."

Tabby just looked at him for a while and chewed on her lips. She turned her head to let her gaze wander, to look at the shop that had once belonged to her mother.  
The little girl turned her head to look at the MacManus twins again and nodded.

"Okay."

Connor nodded and looked at his twin.

"We're gonna make our way through this other exit til we reach the restrooms, I think that there's gonna be a shitload there as soon as we open the door t'the arcade, so we gotta use the guns this time. I'm gonna use 'em, yer gonna use the machete in case walkers come too close. I'm gonna go up front and fight us a way out. I got te keys to the car."

Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Ye wanna make a run fer the car? We don't even know if it's working..."

"It's our best shot, and pretty much our only way out anyway, so shut it. It's a good plan."

Murphy rolled his eyes and growled. Yeah, he knew all about Connor's _good _plans. He put his pea coat back on and handed Connor his duffel bag. The older MacManus checked his guns once more just to make sure, than he animated Tabby to get on his brother's back.

"I'm scared" she whispered once more and Murphy placed a hand on her knee when she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Ye don't have ta be, 'm gonna look after you, promise."

Connor threw both their bags over his shoulder and looked at his twin.

"Ready?"

Murphy rubbed Tabby's arm which she had wrapped around his neck. He could hardly breathe because of it, but at least he didn't have to hold her himself.  
He got his machete out and nodded.

"Aye."

Connor placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded. For a moment they looked each other straight in the eye to reassure each other until the older looked up to face Tabby.

"Alright?"

She shook her head and buried her face in Murphy's neck. Connor sighed and looked at his brother again.

"Okay, let's go."


	20. When The Man Comes Around

new chapter! Sorry it's taken me so long. I was so focused on my new fic that I had a hard time writing any new stuff for this one.  
But I'm back now, and the fic is gonna end soon, maybe another 5-10 chapters and I'm done!

Omg, this chapter is rather cruel. I had to think about it for a while, but ended up writing it the way it is. Had something different in mind at first, but then I thought nope, this is a great/cruel idea so I'm gonna use that one. So yeah. Sorry about that. Ha.

**note:** the song they're listening to is "_When The Man Comes Around_" by Johnny Cash. That song is bloody brilliant.

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 20 - When The Man Comes Around

* * *

As soon as they came out from behind the counter they could see how many walkers were staggering through the arcades of Prudential Center. They could see countless undead roaming through the halls, civilians, doctors, army men, policemen, children, firemen, the were all equal now. They were all undead and hungry. Connor, Murphy and Tabetha tried to be as quiet as possible as they made their way through the shop and towards the back door. The older MacManus decided to go first, both his guns drawn, one pointed at the glass doors and display windows to their right, the other pointed at the back door to their left. They had almost made it when Connor ran right into a bunch of cart boxes and threw them over. Both twins froze instantly and looked at each other. "Fuck" the older hissed and turned his head slowly when he could hear banging to their right. The noise had attracted dozens of walkers, who were now heading in their direction and started banging on the doors and windows. Tabby looked up to see what was going on, and since Murphy was facing them she was now looking at a herd of undead that pressed their bloody faces and mouths against the shop windows. The little girl shrieked and buried her face in Murphy's neck again.

"Well fucking done, Connor" Murphy growled and glared at his brother.

It was getting darker inside the shop because the walkers blocked the light from shining through the windows.  
The older twin watched the creatures in horror and undid the safety of his gun.

"Come on, let's move."

He turned around again and started jogging towards the back door. When he reached it and placed a hand on the door handle he turned around to look at his brother and Tabetha.

"Tabby, what's behind that door? A hallway?"

The little girl looked up and nodded. Murphy could feel her shaking.

"Yes. It's were mummy always got the new clothes."

"And there's a door to the restrooms and the arcade?"

The little girl nodded once more. The banging and growling behind them got louder and louder.

"Shut up!" Murphy yelled and turned around to give the walkers a death glare.

He could see that more and more undead were pressing their bodies against the windows.

Connor put down one of their bags to get a flashlight. He switched it on and put it in his mouth. He pushed the door open and entered the dark hallway, shining the flashlight to their left and right. He could see several boxes and racks with clothes standing there, but other than that there was nothing else. He tried the light switch to their left and growled when it wouldn't work. Connor turned around to look at his brother and Tabby again. Murphy was standing there with his machete drawn, and Tabby was still burying her face in his neck. The younger MacManus blinked because the light of his brother's flashlight was blinding him.

"Well looks like there's no more electricity. Noticed it yesterday night. Emergency lights went off all af te sudden" he said and turned his head so he was no longer blinded by the light. Connor nodded and turned around again. _Oh great. It was getting worse and worse. _They made their way down the hallway. Connor would stop at each corner and checked for any walkers first, but once again they found themselves completely alone in the dark corridor. They could hear how the groaning and noise got louder and louder with every step they came closer to the other end, and Tabetha started whimpering again. "I'm so scared" she sobbed in Murphy's neck, and the younger MacManus shivered because she drenched the neck of his shirt with tears and snot. He put a hand on her knee and squeezed. "I know, 's gonna be alright. We're gonna get ye outta here" he murmured and shifted her weight because she was getting heavy.

Connor was the first to reach the door and rested his head against it so he could hear what was going on on the other side.  
He could hear moans and the dragging of feet, which meant that there most definitely were walkers behind the door.

"Are ye sure about te car? Shouldn't we try fer the T?" Murphy asked and Connor turned around look at him with a frown.

"Ye saw how many were out there, how te fuck are we gonna make our way past them, we'd run out of bullets way before we would even make it outta te shop.  
Besides, they're all coming fram there."

"We don't fucking know that fer sure. They could've broken through one of the barricades. And there weren't any walkers in the T tunnels."

"That was yesterday. Don't be stupid. That's a shite plan."

Murphy snorted.

"And running outside and relying on a car that might not work is a good plan? We got no idea how many af these fucks are out there, either!"

Murphy growled and his brother turned around to glare at him. He pointed his finger at his twin and growled.

"Will you fucking shut it. Stop being so fucking pessimistic. Yer scaring the kid. We're gonna go out there, we're gonna kill those bastards and we're gonna be_ fine_."

"Can't you just leave me here? I don't want to go outside" Tabetha sobbed and both twins stopped arguing.

They looked at each other for a little while longer, then Connor sighed and looked at Tabby.

"Don't be silly. It isn't safe here. Don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine. Don't listen ta him. Everything's gonna be fine."

Murphy snorted and shifted Tabby's weight once more.

"Fucking stupid plan" he murmured and grabbed his machete with both his hands. Connor stepped on his foot and positioned himself in front of the door again.

"Ready?" he asked and Murphy nodded with a sigh.

"Aye."

As soon as they opened the door to the arcade they had to realize how bad it really was. The shopping center was crowded with walkers that it almost looked like it was christmas season, only that the crowds weren't there for shopping and presents. They were there for flesh. Connor shot the first couple of walkers who were too close to the door, then he started running.

"Don't fucking run so fast!" Murphy yelled and decapitated a walker who got too close. His brother was still busy shooting and running in front of him.

"Hurry te fuck up! Don't let them surround ye!" the blonde MacManus yelled and kicked a walker away that had once been a police officer. The younger twin tried to run again, but more and more walkers were closing in on him, and he had trouble carrying Tabby. It felt like she was getting heavier with every step he took.

"Connor!" Murphy yelled and stabbed another two walkers. He could see how an innumerable number of bloody grimaces with missing lower lips and cheeks and eyes and noses was coming closer, and for a second his mind went completely blank. Yes, he was a grown man, but he was still terrified and scared to death because he felt so surrounded, so helpless. _Why was this happening to them? Why had this happened to all those people? Was this the wrath of god? Was this really judgment day?_ Just a couple of months ago he and his brother had been laughing about that whenever they had heard this. They were religious, but they had never really believed in anything like the end of days, global punishment or any of that. And now the dead had started walking, and there were so many of them that he knew that it couldn't possibly get back to normal again. This was judgement day. And it was happening _now_.

"Murph!" he heard his brother yell from somewhere behind the countless undead, and a second later Tabetha started screaming behind him.

"No! Let me go! Help! Murphy! No please!" she screamed and that snapped the younger MacManus out of it. He could feel how one of the undead was trying to drag the girl down, so he turned around and started waving his machete around, hitting and striking anything that came too close to them. He cut a woman's arm off during the process, and Tabetha wouldn't stop screaming and crying. She was so shocked and scared that she was unable to look away, fearing that another walker would grab her. She was clinging to Murphy and watched in complete horror as the younger MacManus stabbed another undead.

"Murphy!" they heard Connor yell again, then two walkers to their right fell to ground. The older MacManus was running towards them, pulling the trigger over and over again. Countless undead were hit and fell to the ground around them. When he reached his brother he grabbed him by his arm and stared at him with wide eyes. "What te fuck did I tell ye?! Don't let them surround you!" he screamed and terror and dragged his twin along, shooting another walker in the head. He let his twin go again so he could use both his guns, but he wouldn't stop turning around every couple of seconds to make sure that his brother was following him this time. Murphy could still hear Tabby screaming and crying behind him, and that was slowly bringing him back to reality. They were really properly running by now, and whenever he turned around to see what was going on behind them he could see that many of the walkers were trying to run after them. It looked like their screaming was attracting the entire shopping center, filling the arcade with undead behind them. He didn't really know how many of them were following them, but he was sure that it had to be at least a hundred walkers. And that were just the creatures behind them. He didn't even want to know how many were outside.

"Fucking stupid plan!" he yelled and decapitated another walker in front of him.

He jumped over the corpse and gasped when he saw that the head was still biting and blinking.

"Jesus fucking christ!"

"Shut up and keep going!" Connor yelled and avoiding another small group of walkers which was trying to get over a bench to his left.

"We're there! Cover my back!" the older twin shouted when he reached the door. He was panting heavily and looked out of the window, now that he was waiting for his brother anyway. He could see even more walkers outside, the entire street was practically crowded with the undead. Connor remembered what the street had looked like the night before. Empty, abandoned. It had been terrifying. He remembered how he had wished for those streets to be crowded with people again. _Be careful what you wish for_he thought and shook his head.

"Hurry up!" he yelled and turned around to see where his brother was.

Murphy was still fighting a couple of walkers that were staggering around between them, and Connor saw how many were following them.

He widened his eyes in shock.

"Jesus Christ, Murph! Run faster!" he yelled and startled when the door behind him shook violently.

He could see a walker's face on the other side of the window, pressing and pressing and smudging it with blood and spit.

"Oh fuck!" he gasped and tried to push the door open, but the walker on the other side was too heavy.

"Murph! I can't open this fucking door!" he shouted and turned his head again. He could see how Murphy finally came running, followed by hundreds of walkers. Connor had never been the one to lose his shit and panic easily, this had been Murphy's job all the time after all, but right now he was more than panicking. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and no matter how hard he was trying to push the door open, it wouldn't move an inch.

"Murph!" he yelled in panic. He could hear how they were coming closer and closer, slowly surrounding them from both sides. There were two walkers on the other side of the door by now, and he could see how more were stumbling towards it. He closed his eyes for a second, trying to calm down, but his mind was racing. _Oh christ. This is it. This is it. We're all going to die. Please god. Don't let us die._

_Don't worry, god is watching over us,_ he remembered himself saying and cursed himself for his foolishness. Was this what they could call "watching over them"?  
_They were going to get mobbed and eaten in a couple of seconds for christ's sake!_

"Shoot it!" he heard Murphy yell and his eyes snapped open.

"Shoot it through te fucking window!"

His twin had finally reached him and grabbed one of his guns from his hand. He placed the gun on the glass and pulled the trigger. The walker on the other side was thrown back and the window cracked dangerously. The other remaining walker was still banging his fists against it, making it crack even more.

"They're coming!" the could hear Tabetha scream in absolute terror. Connor placed his gun on the window and pulled the trigger as well. The glass scattered into a thousand pieces and the second walker was thrown back, and without hesitating the younger MacManus ran right against the door, pushing the door handle down while doing so. The two bodies were blocking it, so he screamed for his brother to help him.

"They're coming, oh my god they're coming! I'm so scared!" Tabby screamed and both twins ran against the door once more.

"I fucking know!" Connor yelled and pushed as hard as he could. The MacManus brothers nearly fell to the ground when the door finally opened, and it was Connor who stumbled outside first. He searched his pockets and found the keys to the Mercedes that was still parked on the pavement, and when he pressed the button the car responded with flickering lights. He let out a relieved sigh and shot another two walkers on the stairs in front of him, then he started running towards the car. _Maybe god was watching over them after all._

A loud and piercing shriek behind him startled him. A second later he could hear Murphy screaming as well.

"NO! CONNOR!"

The older MacManus turned around in horror to see what was going on. He could see how his twin was holding on to the door frame with both his hands, his machete lying on the floor. There were countless walkers right behind him, dragging and grabbing him. He could hear another bone chilling shriek and widened his eyes in shock. Walkers were attacking something right behind Murphy, who was still clinging to the door frame with all the strength he could gather, eyes widened in terror.

"MURPH!" Connor yelled and ran back, and when he came closer he could hear even more shrieks and screams. He finally realized that it was Tabby who was screaming like that and knew what was going on. For a second he felt like everything around him was happening in slow motion. He could see the walkers behind his brother attacking Tabby, biting and dragging her and threatening to pull his twin down with her. He could see how Murphy was trying to fight them, but there was nothing he could to but scream and shout at them since he was clinging to the door with both his hands, trying not to get pulled back inside. Connor could see another walker to his brother's left, who was grabbing his arm and preparing himself to bite him. The older MacManus didn't hesitate, pointed his gun at the undead and pulled the trigger, being well aware of the fact that he could miss and hit his brother instead. The walker was thrown back and fell to the ground, missing his chance to bite the younger MacManus. Connor was back with them in just a matter of seconds, but for him it felt like he was running forever. He could finally and properly see how two walkers were biting Tabetha's back, neck and shoulder, and the little girl was crying and screaming in pure agony.

"Connor!" he could hear Murphy scream again.

When he was finally with them and saw how many more walkers were coming behind them he knew that there was no time.

"Fucking help us! I...I can't let go!" Murphy yelled and when another walker tried to bite him in his neck Connor shot her in the head. The younger MacManus turned his head away, his ears ringing because of the shot and Tabby's screams behind him. He could feel how her blood was drenching the back of his pea coat and shirt, and what made it even worse was the fact that she was screaming his name and clinging so hard to him that she almost strangled him. He could feel how the little girl was shaking and being dragged around, how her grip got weaker. The smell of blood and rotten flesh made him feel sick, and he almost threw up. He could see Connor staring at him in absolute horror. He gasped when his brother suddenly reached forward and grabbed Tabby's arms, which were still wrapped around his neck.

"What te fuck are ye doing?!" he yelled and widened his eyes even more when he realized that his brother was trying to free him from the little girl who was still clinging to his back.

"What the _fuck _are you doing?! Don't!" he yelled, but a second later he could feel how Tabby lost her grip around his neck and he fell forward, right into his brother's arms. He could still hear the little girl screaming behind him, and when he turned around he could see how the crowd of walkers pulled her down to the ground.

"No!" he screamed and tried to fight his brother, who was dragging him away.

"Murph! We've gotta go!" he heard Connor yell but all he could hear and see right now was how the little girl he had just carried around a second ago was getting torn to shreds in front of his eyes. Now that most of the walkers were all gathered around her the exit was completely blocked for any of the remaining walkers inside, and most of them joined the others. The screaming had finally stopped.

"No! I fucking kill yah! I'm gonna kill all of yah!" Murphy was still screaming and kicking as his brother dragged him down the stairs towards the car.

"I fucking kill you!" he screamed, staring at the door that had now disappeared behind the bushes. It felt like he was losing his mind. He wouldn't stop screaming as Connor pushed him inside the car, and when he tried to get out and back to Tabetha his brother forced the door shut and locked it. Murphy wouldn't recover from his fit of rage. Connor knew how painful it really was, but no matter how much had happened in just a couple of seconds, he couldn't allow himself to lose his mind as well. The older MacManus made his way around the car and shot another couple of walkers that were standing too close to the car. He finally managed to get inside the vehicle as well, where his brother was still screaming and kicking. Connor had just managed to close his door shut when the first couple of walkers started banging their fists against windows.

"Please work, please please please please" he begged and put the keys in the ignition. The engine started without any problems.

"Thank god!" Connor yelled and sped forward, hitting a walker on his way down the pavement.

"Thank fucking god" he gasped, concentrating on the road as they sped away from Prudential center, trying to avoid any other walkers so they wouldn't wrack their car just yet. When they passed Copley place and there weren't so many walkers on the street anymore Connor finally had the guts to talk again.  
"Copley. Our first job" he breathed with shaky voice, trying to remind himself of something else. For just a second he wanted to calm down, think about anything but the walking dead and running away, but this was quite hard to achieve. He could see walkers roaming around Copley square, some were even staggering up and down the stairs of Trinity church. They were crossing the dark shadow of Hancock Place when Connor finally looked at his brother. He could see that Murphy's back was soaked with blood, and what made it even worse was the fact that he could see bits of flesh and hair sticking to his pea coat. Murphy had buried his face in both his hands, and when his brother listened up he could hear gentle abrupt sobs. Connor swallowed hard and looked at the road in front of them. They were speeding down Boylston Street now, and when they passed Boston Public garden there were less and less walkers on the street. Once again the city was dead and quiet apart from their car, and he assumed that the walkers who had managed to break through the barriers hadn't made it to the city center yet. Connor was still concentrating on the road, but when he heard how his brother wouldn't calm down he reached out for him and tried to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Murph.." he murmured but his twin moved out of his reach.

"Get yer fuckin hands af me or I swear 'm gonna kill ye."

The older MacManus turned his head to look at his brother. Murphy was still sitting there head down, with both hands pressed to his face. He could see that his younger half was still shaking because of his crying and fit of anger, and no matter how much he hated to see his twin in a state like that, he knew that there was no time for talking and arguing at the moment. He needed to concentrate on the road, now that the terminal wasn't too far away. Connor wiped his face and sighed, then he reached for the radio. A song started playing. Whoever had been inside that car had been listening to a cd before, because it started playing right in the middle of the song.

"_….the pipers. One hundred million angels singing...Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum Voices calling, voices crying...Some are born and some are dying...It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come...And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree...The virgins are all trimming their wicks...The whirlwind is in the thorn tree...It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks... Till Armageddon no shalam, no shalom...Then the father hen will call his chickens home...The wise man will bow down before the throne...And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns...When the Man comes around_"

For a while they just listened and drove on. Connor didn't know why he couldn't switch it off. He knew that they were supposed to listen to the radio instead, hope for any emergency broadcasts and instructions, but he just couldn't get himself to do it. He didn't want to do it. It had been weeks since he had last heard a song, and right now he didn't even know if they were ever going to hear one again. The world had gone to shit, and for the past two days they had experienced how easy it was to get killed now. He wondered if things were ever going back to normal again. To listening to songs and watching movies and driving around in cars, seeing the streets crowded with normal, living people. Right now he even missed traffic jams and the stench of countless car engines. It was so surreal to see the streets without any cars, that they could drive around downtown Boston with no cars behind them and in front of them.

Pretty soon the horrible images were coming back, now that they felt so terribly alone again. He could see Tabby's bloody face everywhere, in the rear view mirror, he saw her running around with bloody clothes in the abandoned buildings to their left and right. He saw her sitting next to him instead of Murphy, staring at him, judging him. _Why? _He could hear her asking that question over and over again. _Why._

Connor shook his head angrily and tried not to think about it. He tried to think about all the places they passed instead, where they had been, what they had done in there, what kind of people they had met there, what kind of stories he had heard and seen in there. He tried to think about anything but Prudential Center, what had happened there.

They were passing South Station when the song came to an end.

"_And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts...And I looked and behold, a pale horse... And his name that sat on him was Death...And Hell followed with him._"

Connor sighed and switched the radio off with an angry frown.


	21. Retribution

New chapter! Dear whoever is still reading this story (not many people anyhoo): Sorry it's taken me so long!.  
So yeah, some of the passages here might seem familiar, depending on whether you've read my Salvation fic or not.  
I think maybe 2-3 more chapters and I'm done.

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 21 - Retribution

* * *

"Well fuck me" Connor growled as he turned their car around once more. They had been driving up and down Dorchester Ave for the third now. Murphy stared out of the window. Fort Point was right next to him. He could see all sorts of cars and tents and trailers on the other side of the channel, were a large parking lot was located. The fact that there was no way across the river without barricades and tanks blocking their way wasn't even the worst. What made it even more horrible was the lack of people. They hadn't crossed paths with any soul for the past 15 minutes. Neither dead nor alive.

"There's gotta be a fuckin way over te channel!" Connor growled and headed back to Summer Street Bridge.

Murphy turned his head and looked at his brother, who was slowly losing it. Connor kept scratching his chin nervously as he maneuvered their car around the walkway, since the road was blocked with abandoned cars. They had tried Mass Pike to get further south, but the entire highway had been clogged with cars as well. The older MacManus turned the radio back on and tried to make out the emergency broadcast they had found.

"_..at Black Falcon cruise terminal. The national guard and the American red cross have set up emergency pick up points at Fenway Park, Salvation Army Kroc center, Harvard College, Bunker Hill Community College and Suffolk Downs. I repeat, the main Boston refuge center is located at Black Falcon cruise terminal. We offer food, shelter and protection. Civilians are.._"

Murphy growled and switched the radio off. Connor frowned and turned his head to look at his brother.

"What te fuck? They were talking about te camp!" he complained and switched the radio back on. Murphy switched it off again.

"Don't you fucking get it?! They've been saying that fer the past 15 minutes! It's a recording, ye fuckin retard! Do you see any army men running around?  
National guard? Red cross people? They're all gone!"

The older MacManus slammed the brakes. He pointed at the street to his left, were a massive tank was blocking the rest of the road.

"No fuckin army men? What about this then, huh? And all the cars, all the ambulances, the tents, the signs?!"

"Exactly! There's just cars and shit lying all over the place! The whole thing's fucking _deserted_!" Murphy yelled and pointed at the streets as well.

Connor fell quiet and turned his head to let his gaze wander. They could hear the wind blowing, the creaking of metal and the fluttering of fabric, but other than that there was absolutely nothing. No car engines, no talking, no steps, just the utterly utterly disturbing silence.

"Well, maybe they're all on the other side of the channel, maybe they just abandoned te west section of this..."

"What part of _deserted _don't ye fuckin get? If there were any people left, any guards, any army men, then they would be guarding this place like there's no fucking tomorrow! Do ye see any of that over there?" Murphy spat and pointed at Summer Street bridge, where multiple military cars and a helicopter were located, but no people could be seen anywhere. Connor got out of the car with an angry growl and started walking towards the bridge. He could hear how Murphy opened the door and slammed it shut behind him. A second later he was right beside him.

"Where te fuck are ye going?"

"To the other side, there's gotta be people over there" his brother growled and kept walking. Murphy followed him.

"Use yer fuckin brain fer once! There could be.."

Connor turned around and shoved his twin hard.

"It was yer fucking idea t'come here!" he yelled.

"People died on our way here, just because ye thought fuckin boats would be a good idea! I got us here alive, while the whole world around us went t'shit!  
So don't you dare talk any of this bullshit now!"

The younger MacManus shoved his twin back and started kicking and punching him.

"It's not all my fault! I didn't get 'em killed, you did! You got Eunice killed cos ye had ta leave us alone and ran off! You almost got yerself killed just because it was yer idea t'try Mass Pike! You got these people in Kenmore killed just cos ye didn't move yer ass fast enough! And it's yer fault Tabby's dead!" he spat and punch Connor's face hard.

"You told her that she'd be okay, that we'd get her outta there, and then ye just left her there!"

They both fell to the ground and started fighting, throwing punches and yelling at each other. It felt like all the frustration, fear, confusion and anger was raining down on them at once, trying to find a way out of their bodies through their fists and insults. They were rolling around in the dirt in front of their car until Connor managed to pin his younger half down.

"I know I left her there, but I had no fucking choice. She would've pulled ye back with her, they would've killed ye!"

Murphy suddenly covered his eyes.

"We fuckin killed a kid, Connor" he sobbed and his twin looked at him in surprise.

"Shit, my clothes are sticking with her blood, my back, my neck.."

Connor shifted and sat down next to his brother, who sobbed once more and tried to get rid of all the blood on his back.  
He gave up after a while and looked up at the sky.

"We didn't kill 'er Murph. Those unholy creatures did."

"I was supposed t'look after her. She fuckin trusted me. I should've run faster."

"Me, too" the older MacManus said quietly and they stopped talking.

For a while they didn't move or say anything. Murphy was still lying on the ground, trying to recover from his breakdown. He couldn't stop asking the question over and over again. _Why? I thought you were watching over us. _The sky above his head was grey and cloudy, emphasizing the mood. The world really was ending.  
"I couldn't do it" Connor said and Murphy turned his head.

The blonde twin moved his hand through his hair and let out a shaky sigh.

"I know it was wrong. I know it was selfish. Yer right, she was just a kid. She didn't deserve t'die like this, but I just couldn't save her first. The second I saw ye two my brain just went blank. I was driven by instinct. I saw ye and I just knew that I had t'get ye out of there first" he looked at his brother and swallowed. "She was bit. And..." he snorted and shook his head. Murphy saw that his brother's hands were shaking. "I knew that she was dead anyway. But you were there, in so fucking danger. I knew I'd only get you outta there alive if the walkers were busy with her."

Murphy just stared at his brother.

"What?"

Connor sighed and nodded. He turned his head to look at all the abandoned cars to their right.

"Remember that day when those Russians broke in and tried t'shoot ye?"

The younger MacManus didn't answer. He was still shocked because of what he'd just heard.

"That was just like that. I thought they were gonna take ye away from me again. And whenever that happens I just see red, man. Last time I ripped a toilet outta the ground and jumped off a building. Didn't even care about my own life there, I was alright with dying if only I knew fer sure that I'd save you. This time I was alright with sacrificing a kid just so I could save you."

He looked at his brother again.

"And that's scaring the shit outta me, Murph. This world, it's fucking with us."

The younger MacManus got up and grabbed his brother by the collar of his pea coat to throw him to the ground.  
Connor winced and looked up at his twin, surprised to see the strange look on his face.

"Would you have done te same fuckin thing if the walkers hadn't bit her yet?"

"What? Murph, I.."

"Answer me!" Murphy yelled and Connor looked at him for a while.

"Aye."

The look on the dark-haired MacManus' face changed drastically. Connor could see how hurt his twin looked all of the sudden, so disappointed and angry.

"This isn't how Ma raised us. _For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong __which he has done, and that without partiality!_" he said and got up.

Murphy started walking back to the car and Connor sat up.

"Well fuck this! What was I sapposed ta do? Try t'save her and risk that they bite ye as well?"

He got up and went after his twin.

"Every fucking night I'm dreaming that yer dead, that yer one of 'em. Just seeing it there kills me every night, so what else should I've done? Yeah I get that it wasn't the right thing t'do, but fuck that! What's it worth if I end up alone with everyone around me dead? The old rules don't apply here any longer, Murph! She was bit! And ye know what happens when they bite ye!"

Murphy stopped walking and snorted. He turned around to face him.

"So what, if I get bit, are ye gonna leave me t'the walkers as well just so you can save yer ass?"

Connor darted forward and shoved him hard.

"Don't ye fuckin dare say something like that!"

Murphy just stared at him and didn't shove back.

"They're never gonna bite you. If I have t'kill all of fucking Boston. That's_ never _gonna happen."

They looked at each other until Murphy turned around again with a sign.

"Let's find a fuckin boat and get te fuck outta here."

* * *

"Well, te way I see it, we could either try t'climb over those fences, or we crash 'em with te car" Connor said and shook the gates that blocked their way to the other side of Summer Street bridge. They had tried to shoot the locks and chains off, but it was pointless. Murphy looked at the blockade as well.

"And crash te fucking car? They didn't build those fences fer nothing. They obviously don't want anyone t'get in" he murmured and started shaking them, too.

"Well, looks like we gotta climb over it."

"Over barbed wire."

Connor looked at his brother with an angry frown.

"Stop being so fuckin pessimistic! We made it here! Boats! One stupid gate's not gonna keep us from getting there! We're gonna throw yer coat over it."

Murphy frowned as well.

"What? There's no way we're using my coat! Why's it gotta be my coat?"

"Because it's ruined anyway."

The younger MacManus could still feel the sticky coolness on his back, smelled the disgusting stench of dried blood.

"Guess yer right" he murmured and swallowed hard.

Connor made his way to their car, which they had parked in front of the blockade.

"'m gonna get our stuff and move te car closer so it's easier fer us t'get to the other side" he said and Murphy moved out of the way with a sigh.

He started walking down Summer street for a bit, just to take one last look at the abandoned city that had once been their home. Skyscrapers were rising up to his left and right, and he still felt very odd about the whole atmosphere. It was so surreal to see them all abandoned, to see all the tanks and military cars. It looked like there had been a war, with a few bodies still lying on the ground_. How had they managed to miss all this? _They had seen it on television days before, images of chaos in other major cities, New York, Los Angeles, but it had felt like it was only a movie. Because this all really looked like a movie setup. Because things like this couldn't possibly real. _How could this be real? Most importantly, how was it going to end?_

Murphy stopped walking when he saw a figure in military clothes walking around one of the cars in front of him, with his back turned on him. The figure suddenly stopped walking as well and just stood there. For a moment neither of them moved. Then he heard the all too familiar noise coming from the streets in front of them. Groaning, moaning, the dragging of feet. "Oh shit" the younger MacManus gasped and the figure turned around.

"Oh shit! Murphy yelled when he saw that the soldier was missing his jaw. The figure started staggering in his direction, but instead of running away the dark-haired twin decided to start walking as well. He grabbed his machete and approached the walker, because he didn't just want to kill him, he also wanted to see where the other noise was coming from. The undead started growling and hissing and walked faster. The younger MacManus approached him without hesitation, and when he was close enough he hit the walker's head.

"Murph!" he heard his brother yell as he was putting the corpse to the ground. He got up and sighed.

"It's alright! Got 'im!" he answered and kicked the dead walker.

When he looked up he finally he saw them, too. An uncountable number of undead, making their way down Summer Street, across Dewey Square Plaza to his right, coming from all sides. The younger MacManus widened his eyes in shock. "Fuck!" he shouted and turned around so he could run back to his brother. He gasped when he nearly ran into another walker, which was coming from the small park to his left. Murphy killed the undead with his machete and looked up in horror. Walkers were coming from all sides now.

"Murph!" he heard Connor shout once more and grabbed both his guns to shoot his way out.

"I'm here!" he yelled back and kicked a walker away, trying to find his twin. After fighting for a couple of minutes, and the walkers behind him getting closer,  
he could finally see his brother moving through the crowd of the undead, slicing and cutting his way back to him.

"Come on, run faster ye bastard, they're fuckin everywhere!" Connor shouted and waited for him to get back.

"Go back! I'll watch yer back Con. We're almost fucking there!" Murphy answered and his brother nodded.

The younger MacManus turned around again so he could shoot the walkers that were getting too close.

"Don't waste our fuckin ammo! We haven't got much left! And we're only half way outta te city!" Connor yelled over his shoulder and started running again, killing walkers with his machete on his way back to the car. _Why was this happening to them? _he thought and cursed when his weapon got stuck in one of the walkers head's. Just a second ago they had been all by themselves, and now there was chaos all around them. It felt like the undead were always following them, always catching up on them. It only made him angry. They had made their way to the terminal, but now it looked like it was just as overrun as the rest of the city.

"'t was yer fuckin idea ta come here!" he yelled once more and kicked the walker who still got the machete stuck in her head.

He nearly lost grip of his weapon and got even angrier at Murphy. It had been his stupid plan to go to this part of the city after all. _We should've known. I should've known. After everything we went through t'get here, I should've know that the city center isn't safe. _The older MacManus was just about to yell at his brother again when he heard how Murphy's pained scream echoed through the streets. Connor turned around in absolute horror. A walker was right behind his brother, biting his neck and chewing on his flesh. Murphy tried to fight him off but couldn't.

"Connor!" he screamed in pain and looked at his twin with wide eyes.

His screams and shouts were getting louder with every second the undead was sinking his teeth in his neck.

Other walkers got attracted by the noise and started walking in his direction as well.

"NO!" Connor yelled at the top of his lungs and started running back.

"NO!" he screamed, pulled his gun and shot the walker that was attacking his twin in the head.

The creature fell down and ripped a piece of flesh out of Murphy's neck while doing so.

"NO! MURPH!"

When he finally reached his younger half they just looked at each other for a second, utterly terrified. The younger gasped and grabbed his neck. He was so shocked. So scared. He let go of his wound and looked at the blood on his hand in surprise. Connor did the same. For a second neither of the could move or say anything, then Murphy's legs gave in.

"No..! Oh god, no!" Connor gasped as he caught him and placed a hand on his neck.

He could feel the wetness of the blood on his palm. His hand and Murphy's clothes were drenched within seconds.

"I've got ye, oh fuck! Murph! I've got ye! Yer gonna be okay...yer gonna be.."

He could hear how the walkers got even closer and his mind went blank.

"You motherfuckers! You fuckin bastards I fuckin kill you!" Connor screamed at the top of his lungs and hauled his brother up with him. He pointed his gun at the undead and started shooting them, yelling and screaming all the way through. For a second he couldn't think or hear anything, the rage was eating him up. He shot about eight walkers until he heard his brother groan, and this snapped him out of it. He looked at all the creatures who were slowly closing in on them and finally realized that he had to take his brother away. Some place safe. The older MacManus turned his head and tried to make out any place where they could hide, only to see that the way back to their car and the terminal was completely blocked by now. He looked at his brother's messy black hair on his shoulder and tried not to panic.

"'m gonna get us outta here, Murph. Yer gonna be okay" he said shakily and searched their surroundings once more.

His brain was slowly starting to see past the rage, to a point where he could actually focus again.

"There!" he yelled when he spotted a half-open steel door to their left and started running.

He was running as fast as he could, but soon he couldn't hold back the tears anymore.


	22. Promise

so yeah. We've reached_ that_ chapter. *sniffs*

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 22 - Promise

* * *

He was carrying Murphy up the stairs of the empty building. Connor could still hear how the walkers kept knocking and scratching on the steel doors downstairs. He knew that they wouldn't possibly be able to get in, simply because it was locked tight and he had put cupboard in front of it. The older twin couldn't stop crying and shouting at the world as he carried his younger half up the stairs and inside an empty apartment. He didn't even know if there were any walkers inside, but he was so hysterical that he didn't even care. Connor closed the door to one of the many abandoned rooms shut behind him and lay his injured brother on the ground. There was nothing around except for old papers and some moldy furniture. He got up and searched the room in panic, trying to find any medical supplies. He had left their bags in the car when he had seen all the walkers. He had started running back to his brother and there had been no time to get their things. Now he cursed himself for this stupid action. All their things were in their bags, including the medical supplies they had taken from Fenway Park. He could hear his brother moaning and coughing blood, so he turned around in horror and ran to help him.

"No, no no fuckin way, don't ye die on me Murph!" he yelled and tried to get rid of his brother's pea coat so he could see the injury.

He almost fell back when he saw how bad it really was. There was a deep wound on his brother's shoulder and neck right where the walker had torn his flesh out.  
It was bleeding heavily. It looked horrible. There was blood everywhere.

"Looks like te fucker got ye big time" Connor breathed shakily and freed his brother from his pea coat.

He pressed it against the wound and wiped the blood off his twin's mouth.

"'m gonna put ye back t'gether, brother. Yer gonna be okay, yer gonna be okay"

Murphy coughed blood once more and squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

"'m...'m not gonna make it, Conn" he breathed and his brother shook his head in panic.

He stopped pressing the pea coat against the wound to see if the bleeding was slowing down. He could see the lacerated flesh, arteries and muscles,  
and the blood kept oozing out of the wound with every heartbeat. He shook his head once more and pressed the pea coat against it.

"What are ye talkin about, shut up, af course yer going ta make it!"

Murphy suddenly started shaking and blood started running down his mouth.  
Connor felt how the pea coat was so soaked with blood that it was running down his hand now.

"Oh god, no! Fuck! Help! We need ta get ye to a fuckin hospital!" he shouted and tried to pull his brother up.

"There..no hospitals...all..overrun" Murphy coughed and his brother glared at him.

"Yeah I fuckin know they're all overrun!"

He looked up and searched the room in panic.

"Somebody help us!" he yelled and placed a hand on his twins chest.

"I'll get ye back tagether Murph..I.."

He threw the pea coat away when he realized that it was no longer stopping the bleeding. He pressed his hand on it instead.  
After a few seconds blood started running down his fingers, staining his _Veritas _tattoo. Connor suddenly started sobbing.

"Fuck, there's so much blood..oh christ, Murphy, what do I do?"

His twin closed his eyes with an exhausted gasp and Connor started shaking him.

"What do I fucking do?" he yelled and sobbed once more. Murphy's eyes fluttered and he swallowed hard.

"Shoot..me" he gasped and his twin shook his head in shock.

"No."

"Ye...gotta."

The older MacManus pulled his twin closer and shook his head even more.

"I said no! Ye can't ask me t'do something that!"

"Conn...'m..'m gonna turn" the younger twin whispered and tried to look up.

"No! I can't fuckin do that.."

Murphy tried to place a hand on his brother's shoulder, but he was too weak.

"Ye...ye know ye gotta" he whispered and couldn't hold the tears back anymore either.

He hated that he was so weak, he wanted to be strong for his brother, give him strength, simply because his time was running out. He knew that his twin needed him right now, more than ever. But he was so tired and so scared and so sad that he couldn't fight the tears anymore. Because the sight of his brother breaking down like that was just as heartbreaking for him.

"I said no! No, yer my fuckin brother..no Murph. I won't do that..." Connor sobbed and wouldn't stop shaking his head.

"'s...'s my dying wish" the younger MacManus whispered and finally managed to place his hand on his brother's arm.

"I know it's yer fuckin dying wish but fuck that! Yer not dying cos see?"

Connor grabbed his twin's hand and placed it on his chest.

"I'm still breathing, and as long as I do, ye do as well, do ye fuckin understand? We live tagether and we die tagether, and I ain't dying! So ye..MURPH!.." he yelled when he saw how Murphy's eyes rolled back and he started shaking again. Even more blood was running down his chin, and a puddle of blood was forming underneath him. Connor shook his brother and hit his cheek until Murphy finally opened his eyes again. The older MacManus was terrified when he saw that his twin was really crying now. He pulled him into his lap and started cradling him, stroking his chest shakily. He hated to see his twin crying, and his brother instincts kicked in. He tried to calm his brother down, who went through several coughing fits and sobs. Connor could feel how his panic was fading. He knew that the bleeding wouldn't stop, no matter how hard he tried to stop it. He took a deep breath. He knew that there was too much blood, so now there was just acceptance.

"Ok..alright. It's gonna be okay brother...I'm here" he whispered and sobbed once more. He moved his hand up to smooth his twin brother's messy hair. The sight was breaking him. The blood wouldn't stop flowing, no matter how hard he pressed his bloody hand against it. Murphy suddenly grabbed the hand he was pressing on his injured neck and looked at him. He was still swallowing and gasping for air. "'t was always ye 'n me" he managed to answer before another rush of blood ran down his mouth. Connor nodded and tried to hold him steady. "Yeah.."

He shook his head and ended up whimpering.

"Ye can't do that ta me..I fuckin love ye more than anything in this stupid fuckin world.."

The older MacManus looked up at the ceiling. He tried to reason with god. Pleading and trying to make him understand. **I love my brother. You can't take him away**. He stroke Murphy's cheek helplessly. He didn't know what to do. _Why wasn't there anyone there who could help him? What was he supposed to do? Why was god doing this to his brother? Why was there so much blood? _"Love... ye too" Murphy answered and started shaking again. Connor could feel how his brother's body temperature was dropping, what the blood loss was doing to him. He nodded eagerly but ended up sobbing even more. "I know."

He pulled his brother closer to his chest and looked back up, somewhat hoping that there was someone there by now. Someone to help them. Someone to tell him what to do. Someone to slap him just so he would wake up from this nightmare. Then he looked at the ground and saw his guns where he had dropped them. He could feel his twin dying, and when he saw the guns he knew what to do. "Ye and me Murph" he said determinedly.

Murphy widened his eyes and shook his head.

"No..no."

Another coughing fit interrupted him, and Connor tried to lift his head up so he could breathe more easily.  
Then he wiped his brother's bloody mouth. Murphy shook his head and tried to fight him.

"No" he said again and Connor frowned.

"What?"

"Ye can't.. do that..promise" he gasped and looked at the guns as well.

The blonde twin glared at his brother in disbelief and shook his head just as stubbornly.

"What are ye talkin about. Af course I'm dying with you.."

"Suicide's a sin Connor!" Murphy yelled with all the strength he could gather.

His brother tried to calm him down and hush him, but the black-haired twin just glared at him in pure horror and wouldn't stop shaking his head.

"No. Promise."

Connor shook his head once more.

"No, ye can't make me promise that..."

Murphy was coughing even more blood and it sounded like it was suffocating him. His eyelids fluttered and he could no longer hold his head in place,  
so Connor shifted and tried to hold him steady in panic.

"Murph, ye can't leave me te fuck alone! Murphy!" he yelled and started shaking his brother.

This seemed to bring Murphy back for another minute. He glared at Connor.

"Don't..kill yerself..Promise."

And he was staring at him in such a meaningful and pleading way that the older MacManus knew that he absolutely meant it, that this was his brother's dying wish.  
He swallowed hard and tried to focus. He looked his twin in the eye and nodded.

"I promise."

Murphy nodded and grabbed his hand. Connor could feel how he was trying to squeeze it, but his younger half was so weak that he didn't have any strength left.  
He squeezed back and sobbed even more.

"I promise" he repeated and pulled his twin up so he could kiss his forehead.

When he let him go again he saw that Murphy's eyes were closed. Connor stroke his hair once more and shook him gently.

"Murph" he said quietly and waited for him to open his eyes. When his twin wouldn't do so he started shaking him again.

"Murph. Murphy, come on" he demanded, but his twin didn't move.

"Murph!" he yelled and leaned in to hear if his brother was still breathing. He panicked when he realized that his breathing had stopped.

"No!" he screamed and lay his brother on the ground. He tried to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for several minutes and pumped his chest multiple times, but it was too late. Murphy didn't breathe anymore, and when he felt his chest there was no heartbeat. Connor fell back and stared at his twin in horror, shaking his head over and over again. _No, this can't be real. This can't be real. There's no way... _He moved closer to Murphy and started shaking him again.

"Murph?" he whispered and placed a hand on his chest once more.

He could feel his own heart pounding in his chest, and he was utterly confused when he couldn't feel the reassuring beat of the other half of his heart.  
Connor could hear the violent banging downstairs, and that just made him angry.

"Murphy!" he yelled and kept repeating that name over and over again, but his twin didn't answer. After what felt like hours of yelling his brother's name he finally understood. Realization was crashing down on him, and it felt like his heart and soul were being ripped out of his chest. He looked at the bloody body in front of him, the chest that wasn't rising and falling, the eyes that were closed, the pool of blood on the ground and he finally understood what it meant. His brother was _dead_. Connor got up on his feet and started walking up and down the room, glancing at his brother every couple of seconds.

"No" he said and started shaking his head again.

"No no no no no" he repeated and moved his hand through his hair.

He started yanking and pulling it and wouldn't stop shaking his head.

_This can't be real. This can't be real._

He looked up at the ceiling, placed both his hands on his hips and took a deep breath.

"Alright. This is just another one of them dreams. Yer gonna wake up in a couple of seconds and it's gonna be just fine" he murmured shakily and looked at Murphy again.

"Wake up now. Come on, Connor. Ye know those dreams. They're not fucking real. They never were. He's fine. He's fine. Probably lying next t'ye sleeping."

He started walking again.

"He's just sleeping" he tried to reassure himself and took another deep breath. But the sheer panic wasn't fading. He suddenly curled himself up when he felt a stinging pain in his chest. Connor groaned and tried to stay calm, but the hyperventilation eventually kicked in. For a moment he just stood there, holding his chest and staring at the ground, trying to calm down again. He could see the blood on his hands and started shaking. He hauled himself back up and glared at the body on the ground, then he couldn't keep it in anymore.

"WAKE UP!" he yelled and darted forward. He wanted to kick his brother, simply because he was getting sick of the games he was playing. Lying there on the ground, pretending to be dead. Because he sure as hell wasn't dead. Because he was still breathing, and it was either the two of them or no one. He fell to his knees and took his brother's hand, the one with the Aequitas tattoo. He could feel how cold it already was.

"Wake up" he whispered and more and more tears were running down his cheek.

He eventually lost track of time. Connor just sat there next to his brother's body and stared at his bloody face for hours, going through several phases. At first he wouldn't stop crying and sobbing. When no more tears were left he got angry. He got up and started pacing up and down the empty room, knocking over the moldy furniture, yelling at thin air and at god. _Why did you do this? What has he ever done to you? Why him? We trusted you. We believed in you. We always stuck to your rules. We worshipped you! And now this? Why would you take him away? Why would you do this to him? Why? _And once again no answers would come. When there were no more words and insults left, and he eventually got exhausted, he sat back down next to his twin. Sorted his clothes. Cleaned him up. Put his pea coat on top of him so he wouldn't be cold.

He started telling him all sorts of stories. "Remember that one time?" or "I still can't stop thinking about" or "Ye know, when we were little", he couldn't stop talking and laughing as he told his brother countless Rocco stories, stories about their childhood, all the tricks they had played on others. He was laughing so hard because of one story that he eventually started crying again, simply because this was so so wrong. The fact that Murphy wasn't laughing with him, wasn't breathing, wasn't _alive_. Connor could feel how the silence was slowly driving him insane, right to a point were he ran for his guns and pointed the muzzle at his heart. He wanted it to end, he wanted the pain to stop. He turned around and looked at his twin on the ground and swallowed hard.

_Promise._

Connor cursed and secured the weapon, shaking all over again. He startled when he saw how his brother's hands started twitching.

"Murph?" he whispered and approached his twin slowly.

Murphy's body started shaking again, and after a couple of minutes he could see how his chest started rising and falling again.

"Murph!" Connor said and got even closer to his twin. He let out a relieved sigh and started chuckling shakily.

"Jesus Christ Murph, I thought ye were dead" he said and wanted to sit down next to his twin again.

He stopped walking when Murphy opened his eyes and turned his head slowly. Connor gasped when he saw the look on his brother's face.  
So blank. So emotionless. So...lifeless.

"Murph?"

Murphy blinked a few times and started croaking and groaning. His brother could see that the color of his eyes had changed drastically.  
The blue they had shared was gone, now his eyes were grey and milky. Connor swallowed hard when he saw how his twin tried to get up, shaky and clumsy on his feet.

"Murph? Brother, it's me. Connor" the older MacManus whispered and looked at his twin.

The look on Murphy's face didn't change. When he finally managed to stay on his feet he started staggering in his direction, with both his arms reaching out for him. He could hear the raspy breath of his brother. Everything he did was so unlike Murphy that it tore Connor apart. He just watched his younger half staggering in his direction for a moment. He could see the bloody wound on his neck, the blank look on his face that soon changed into something more aggressive, something _hungry. _Murphy's growls and hisses got louder with every step he got closer to him, and no matter how hard Connor tried to not believe in it, he knew the truth. Murphy was no longer Murphy. He was one of _them_.

_You know what happens when they bite you._ _Conn...'m..'m gonna turn._

But how could this be? This was Murphy, his twin brother. The man he had spent 36 years of his life with. The man he had shared a womb and grown up with. The man who had always been his soul mate, his other half. His precious little brother. How could he possibly be a flesh-eating monster? Murphy snarled and growled and got even more angry. His steps got more determined and he sped up. Connor swallowed hard and undid the safety of his gun again. He took a deep breath and looked at it, then he closed his eyes for a moment.

"And shepherds we shall be.." he said and looked at his twin again. He pointed his gun at his head.

"For thee my lord, for thee... Power hath descended forth from thy hand.. Our feet may swiftly carry out thy commands..." he stopped talking when he saw how his brother stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. Part of him just wanted to run and help his twin back up, but he know it was impossible. He felt how the tears started running again. His heart was absolutely broken.

„Fuckin stop walking like that Murph..please..." he begged, but Murphy kept coming with dangerous growls. Connor sobbed once more and wiped his nose.

"So we shall flow a river forth to thee..."

He could see how his twin cocked his head and almost dropped his gun because of that.

„Do ye remember that prayer?" he asked, but Murphy didn't answer. He suddenly squeaked in the most inhuman way.

„Please tell me ye remember it..please tell me ye remember me...fuckin don' be like them..." Connor sobbed, but his pleas were useless. Murphy was getting dangerously close to him now, and for a second he considered just letting his brother attack him. Then he remembered his promise and bit his lip. He knew it was time, and he knew that this was the only way he could survive this.

"And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomine Patris et Filii..."

He looked at his twin once more, and a violent sob escaped his mouth.

Right now he was feeling so much heartbreak, so much loss and so much love that it was almost killing him, too.

„I love ye Murph" he sobbed and aimed at his brother's head.

„Et Spiritus Sancti" he whispered and pulled the trigger.


	23. Salvation

So this is it! The last chapter (and kinda part of the first chapter of Salvation)! It's taken me 4 months to finish this! So yeah, few things went wrong,  
not many people've read it, and it obviously ISN'T perfect, I know that, but still. It's my first fic that I based entirely on my own ideas, and I'm still trying to  
get better at the whole writing thing anyway. And I think that this fic has helped me with that! So yeah, this is the prequel to Salvation, which means that  
I've finished two stories of my Walking Saints trilogy! Wohooo! Now I can get back to the sequel.

So all in all:

Thank you so much for reading!  
Thank you so much for reading til the end if you read all the chapters!  
Thank you so much for looking past all the flaws, bad grammar, the fact that the fic isn't so structured.  
Thank you so much for reviewing and taking the time to write your thoughts down!  
So yeah, thank you all!

* * *

**Retribution**

Chapter 23 - Salvation

* * *

**_7 years ago..._**

Ireland was really fucking quiet. He knew that they were supposed to be used to it, they had grown up here after all. But still. After living in Boston for six years Ireland felt_ really _fucking quiet all of a sudden. Quiet and boring. They had been looking after their sheep for two days now, riding up and down hills and endless roads. Connor growled and grabbed a cigarette, now that Murphy was always blowing smoke in his direction anyway. They watched the animals that were grazing all the way down the hill they were sitting on. The older MacManus turned his head and looked at his brother, trying to find the same sort of look on his face that told him that he was just as bored, but much to his surprise Murphy didn't look like this at all. His younger half was watching the sheep with a smoke in his mouth, and there was a smile on his face. Connor snorted and nudged his brother.

"Well look at ye, sun's shining outta yer ass over here."

Murphy chuckled and nudged him back.

"Fuck you" he answered and Connor chuckled as well. The younger MacManus grabbed his cigarette and pointed at something in front of them.

"Fuckin beautiful, isn't it?"

The blonde twin frowned and tried to make out what his brother was pointing at.

"What? That sheep that's takin a dump over there? Yeah, real fuckin beautiful Murph"

Murphy grinned and put the smoke back in his mouth, then he hit the back of Connor's head.

"I ain't talking 'bout te sheep yah idiot. 'm talking about all this here. Ireland's fuckin beautiful. No skyscrapers, no hookers, no dirt"

"No pubs, no sound, no entertainment.." Connor went on and his twin hit him again. The older MacManus smirked.

"How come yer talking like that all of a sudden? When we left ye weren't t'fond of it at all"

Murphy nodded and leaned back.

"Aye, and I fuckin miss Boston and our old life, but still. This is beautiful."

The older MacManus turned his head and let his gaze wander. Nothing but hills and fields and trees were all around them, everything was so green and cold and wet and...beautiful.

"Aye. It is."

Murphy blew out some smoke and watched the sheep for a while.

"If we ever get back t'it...ye know..killing and all that...if we ever die, I want 'em to bury us right fuckin here. Side by side. Not in some shithole in Boston.  
No. Right fuckin here on this hill."

Connor looked at his brother. He never dared to think about that. Because they weren't ever going to die. This was fucking ridiculous. There was no way.  
But still. He turned his head and let his gaze wander once more. Murphy was right. This was a beautiful spot with a nice view, and this would be a great place to be buried. If they were ever to be buried. Which would take another 50...no, 60 years. He snorted and tried not to think about it.

"Jaysus, yer so fucking poetic brother. What are ye gonna do next? Recite Romeo and Juliet t'me? Yer such a pansy. This air ain't doing yer head t'good."

Murphy growled and kicked him angrily, which made his brother grin. They wouldn't say anything for a while and fell quiet, but Connor wouldn't let go just yet.

"All right. If we ever die then yer obviously gonna go down first, now that I was born first, which means I am the stronger, older, better-looking brother.  
So of course I gotta go down last. So yeah, if we ever gonna die 'm gonna make sure 'm gonna bury yer sorry ass on yer pretty hill right here.  
With pretty pansies fer you pansy."

The younger MacManus rolled his eyes and got even more angry.

"Fuck you."

Connor laughed even more and watched his brother brood. He was a bit disappointed when they wouldn't get into a fight, and after a couple of minutes of thinking about it he came to the conclusion that his twin had been serious about the whole thing, so he felt a bit stupid all of the sudden. He sighed and scratched his nose.

"Nah, we're not gonna go down. Even if we ever go back t'it. We're gonna grow old t'gether and shit. And then they can bury our wrinkly asses right here."

Murphy suddenly chuckled and Connor looked at him.

"What?"

"Well, since you think yer the older one 's gotta mean that you will bite te dust first then. So I can enjoy seeing yer wrinkly ass in that grave fer a bit longer."

The older MacManus laughed and tried to hit his younger half's shoulder.

"Fuck you!" he shouted but couldn't stop laughing.

* * *

The banging downstairs had stopped. Connor opened his eyes slowly and tiredly. He could see through the window from where he was lying. Dark grey clouds were greeting him outside. He didn't know how many days had passed. His throat was bone-dry and his stomach was rumbling, which told him that a couple of days must have passed since they had ended up here. Connor knew that he needed a shower, but everything around him was stinking anyway. The stench of moldy furniture, wet walls and rotting flesh was surrounding him, but he didn't even care anymore.

"'m hungry Murph" the Irishman murmured tiredly and looked up.

The body of his twin was still lying next to him, not a single thing had changed. His brother was still dead, despite all his prayers and desperate calls for help. The small sane part of him that was left knew that it was pointless, that he wouldn't get Murphy back, no matter what he did. He knew that he needed to get away, simply because he needed food and water. The fact that the days didn't do his brother's corpse any good either made it even more necessary, but the insane part of Connor, and that was getting bigger every day, just couldn't get up anymore. He didn't want to leave his brother's side, didn't want to turn his back on Murphy. He knew that this time it would be the last time, because there was no coming back after that. Soon his brother would be gone, taken away by mother nature. _But how could he leave him? All alone in this room? _They had never ever been apart. They had been together all their life. He could almost see the chain that kept them together, and he didn't want to break that precious bond.

The older MacManus twin had tried to delay it. Day by day. J_ust another day. Just one more day then I'm gonna leave. Just another 24 hours. _But now his and Murphy's body were telling him that it was time, because if he didn't get up today then he would die as well. Of starvation, of dehydration, of a broken heart. Connor closed his eyes again and wrapped an arm around Murphy's dead body, and part of him welcomed the idea. They had been born together, so of course they should die together. Not only he was waiting for something to happen, his twin was also waiting for him. On the other side. Connor moved closer, ignoring the smell and everything else that accompanied the decomposition. He tried to shut everything out, Boston, all the dead that were walking around, the sounds, the smell, his feelings, everything. When there was nothing left but his thoughts he remembered.

_Promise._

The blonde twin opened his eyes again and looked at his brother.

"I can't fucking do this, Murph" he croaked and raised his head a bit more.

_You've got to._

Connor sat up and continued to stare at his brother. Dizziness rushed over him because of the exhaustion and the hunger, and he needed a few minutes to focus. Which made it even worse. He knew he needed to make a decision now, because if he waited any longer he wouldn't be able to run and fight outside. He took Murphy's cold and stiff hand and squeezed it, because he just needed the touch, needed the near. They had always been very close in that regard, they had always needed the physical reassurance.

"I know, I promised ye" he whispered and adjusted his twin's clothes again.

He buried his face in his hands for a second and sobbed again, simply because even just thinking about leaving his brother felt like someone was ripping his heart out with a tea spoon. He wiped his face and looked at his twin.

"I promise 'm gonna come back. When all this is sorted out then 'm gonna come back. 'm gonna take ye back t'Ireland, back t'Ma,  
and we're gonna give ye a proper grave on our hill."

He sniffed.

"With a cross and flowers and all that shit. 'm gonna dig it and build it m'self, I promise."

He searched his pockets for his last couple of pennies and placed them on Murphy's eyes. Connor smoothed his brother's hair and then closed his eyes to murmur another prayer for him. He took his time, but he refused to take it as a goodbye. Murphy would always be with him, there was no need for any final words. He had promised that he would stay alive for him, that he would come back to him when all this was over. The older MacManus got up after a while, and was surprised how weak he really was. All his weeping and not eating had exhausted him completely, so he needed a few minutes to adjust to the new position he was in. He put his hands on his hips and started walking in circles, looking at his brother every couple of seconds.

"All right" he murmured and nodded.

"All right. All right. All right" he repeated over and over again. He froze and stared at the bullet wound on his twin's forehead and swallowed hard. Connor could still hear the shot ringing in his ears, over and over again. Ever since then his hands were shaking, and he feared another hallucination or nightmare of Murphy suddenly snapping his eyes open, glaring at him and getting up again. _Why, Connor? Why did you shoot me in the head? What have I ever done to you? I trusted you. _The Irishman gulped and turned his head so he didn't have to see the wound anymore. He looked out of the window instead and leaned his head against the cool window pane. He could see some walkers staggering down the street, but there weren't so many any more. Connor had heard a loud explosion yesterday morning somewhere further north and assumed that most of the undead had staggered in that direction, attracted by the noise. The Irishman could see the car where they had left it a couple of days ago, no one had stolen it yet. He knew that all their supplies, their guns and possessions were still in there, he just needed to make run for it. Connor let out a gentle sigh and considered the possibility of just taking his brother with him, simply because he didn't _want _to let go. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Why would ye make me promise something like that" he whispered and took a deep breath.

_You can do it Connor._

He opened his eyes and turned around again.

"Okay" he said and knelt down next to Murphy to take his guns, machete and rosary. He stroke his head once more and took another deep breath.

"Sleep well, brother" he whispered.

He looked at the rosary in his hands and stroke the cross. He knew how wrong it was to take it from his brother, but he just needed it. A part of his twin, something he could keep close to his heart. Connor got up to head for the door. No matter how hard it was, he forced himself not to look at Murphy again. He kept walking and grabbed the door handle and pulled it. His body was practically urging him to stop, feeling the need to return to his brother. It didn't want to be separated from its other half, but he kept going. He was practically running down the stairs, and soon he couldn't stop running anymore, although he could hardly see anything because of the tears. This was another lesson he had to learn, leaving his brother was far far worse than seeing his dead body.

When he opened the door downstairs he came across walkers right away, and without hesitation he swung his machete around and hit their heads way harder than necessary. He was completely out of breath already, because his weak body was not used to all the running and fighting anymore. But that didn't matter. He was driven by sheer anger.

"This all yer fault ye motherfuckers!" he yelled and kept stabbing one of the two dead walkers.

"He's dead! Because of you!" he screamed and turned the undead into a pile of bloody rotten flesh. He couldn't do it for too long, simply because his arms and legs gave in soon. Other walkers were getting closer, attracted by all his yelling and mad screaming. The Irishman wiped his blood stained face and started running again, towards the car which was still parked in front of the fences that blocked Summer Street bridge. He still had the keys in his pockets and he knew what to do. He didn't even care about the boats anymore. He had been right all along. There were no boats. There was nothing left here. He just wanted to get out of Boston. Away from their battered home, away from all the bodies and friends they had lost. Away from what he had done.

* * *

_**2 months later...**_

He couldn't do it anymore. At some point his soul had just left his body. He had been able to keep going, simply because he couldn't feel a thing, couldn't think about anything anymore. Connor could function during the day, but the nights were the worst. Not only because it was almost impossible to get some sleep when there was no one there to watch your back, but also because the nightmares were still torturing him. For two months now he had been watching his brother die, every single night, which was why he had tried anything to stay awake for a couple of days in a row until he was so exhausted that he couldn't even dream anymore. For months he had kept going like that, but now he couldn't do it anymore.

He had tried everything to stay alive, to keep his promise. The Irishman had tried them all, the refuge camps he had heard about on the radio. Provincetown. Gone. Cape Breton Island. Gone. Manicouagan Reservoir. Gone. He had just left Fort Benning when he had heard about a large refuge camp in Atlanta, heard that the CDC was possibly working on a cure. Connor was pretty sure that Atlanta was just as dead as any other major city. He had seen it first hand. But that hadn't kept him from trying. Simply because he had promised. But he was so tired and depressed that he just couldn't do it anymore now. Couldn't keep searching. The Irishman had driven up and down half the East Coast until the radio had died completely. Now he didn't even really know where he was going anymore. He stopped the car when he came across a huge traffic jam on the highway. The Irishman knew that he could get past it if he wanted, but truth was that he didn't want to. _What was the point anyway? __Why would Atlanta be any different?_ _He just wanted a break. He just wanted to sleep._

Connor got out of his car and took his bag with him. The blonde MacManus was used to the procedure by now. Park the car, get your things, find a place to stay for the night, rest, keep going. The only difference was that he didn't plan on doing the last part this time. Connor started walking down the highway and made his way to the church that was supposed to be close by. This would be different. He had sworn that he wouldn't take his life, but he wasn't going to do that. He had tried to keep going by searching for any survivor camps, but this part was done. Now he would just wait. This time he would give god the opportunity to decide over him. He would stop traveling, simply because it was just as hopeless as staying. _And he just needed a break._ No matter what had happened to him and how broken he really was, he had never really lost faith. This was all he had left after all. He hadn't been in a church for a very long while, which was why he had decided to stop right here and now. Because it was somewhat comforting when he saw the cross in the distance. No matter how this would turn out, whether he found life or death inside that church, about one thing he was absolutely sure. This church would bring salvation.

It didn't take him too long to get rid of the walkers. There weren't many after all. He killed one female and two male walkers, then he closed the doors shut behind him. It was so incredibly quiet all of a sudden. He thought he had gotten used to this by now, he had been on his own for two months after all. _But this?_He couldn't hear anything except for the wind and the creaking of the wood, and he just stood there and listened for a while. For the first time he was actually afraid. To face the cross, to face god. To ask him for forgiveness, to ask him what to do next. Connor knew that he eventually needed to turn around, so he took a deep breath and turned on his heels. He still wouldn't look at the statue and cross just yet. The Irishman took the photograph from his pocket and looked at it instead, heading for the cross in the meantime. Every day he had spent hours looking at that picture, praying to it instead. Now he had the luxury of a real proper church to do all the praying, but that wouldn't keep him from looking at his brother's face. Most of the time he didn't feel anything at all, like he was already dead inside, but whenever he looked at the picture he could feel it again. The loss. The incredible pain.

Connor fell to his knees and put the photograph away. He wasted more time on putting it back in his wallet than he should.  
Not only because his hands were shaking. No matter how many times he had been begging for his life to end, now he actually feared his final judgment.

"Forgive me father fer I have sinned" he murmured and positioned himself in front of the cross.

"It's been 74 days since my last confession."

He didn't stop. He talked about all the people he had killed. All the walking dead people. His friends. His brother. All the evil men he had killed before the apocalypse. He told god every last detail, every sin he had ever committed. Then he wouldn't stop praying. He repeated the words over and over again, waiting for an answer that never seemed to come. The church bells were still ringing every day, drawing walkers to him every time they tolled. Connor did not move, did not look up. He could hear the windows and doors shaking, and he just waited for the undead to break through and take his life. This seemed to be god's answer after all.

The older MacManus had promised his twin that he would not kill himself, which meant that he would go down with a fight. He would either go down fighting or he would fight them off, but he wouldn't leave the church. He supposed that this couldn't be considered suicide then. It was god's will. Just what he wanted. So he waited and waited, but the fight never happened. He could feel his hunger and thirst growing, but even that wouldn't make him move. He had been sitting there praying for two days when the doors finally gave in. Once again Connor wouldn't look up, because he hadn't finished his prayer yet. He could hear them coming closer, but he kept murmuring the words.

"In Nomine Patris" he murmured and grabbed the two rosaries around his neck tight.

"Et Filii"

He could hear them coming closer. One of the walkers was just behind him by now, so he prepared himself for the final battle.

_I'm coming home Murph._

"Et Spiritus Sancti" he finished the prayer and crossed himself.

A second later he could feel how the walker grabbed him from behind. Connor grabbed the arm without hesitation. In just a matter of seconds he was back on his feet and turned around, grabbing his knife on his way back up. He grabbed the walker's arm and threw him to the ground, ready to stab his head. He let out a surprised gasp when another two walkers grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him back. The Irishman squeezed his eyes shut and prepared himself for the incredible pain in his neck and shoulders, but the bites would never come.

"Easy tiger!" the man behind him growled and grabbed his arm even tighter.

Connor opened his eyes in surprise and tried to look at the men behind him, then the man he had thrown to the ground caught his attention.

"Calm down! We're not gonna hurt you! I'm Rick, this is Shane and Daryl. Just calm down. We saw you sitting here and assumed you're a walker" the man in the police uniform said and put his hat back on his head. Connor just glared at the man opposite him. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening. The two men behind him were still pulling and fighting his grip, so he growled and fought even more.

"I ain't one of them things. Now, lemme go will ye?" he answered and tried to kick them.

He was quite surprised that he could still speak. He didn't even remember the last time he had talked to anyone but god. The man named Rick nodded and the two other men behind him let him go. Connor gasped when his legs gave in and he couldn't stand on his own anymore. He had been kneeling for days, which was why he had never realized how weak he really was. He gasped and tried to get back up, feeling the need to defend himself nevertheless. The Irishman wasn't used to people anymore. Anything that moved was now considered a danger. He fought his shoulder long hair off and tried to give them a death glare, and part of him was well aware of the fact that he was acting like an animal.

"What's a potato eating leprechaun doing here? They let anyone in these days? Scared off the geeks with yah terrible accent?" he heard the third man ask and widened his eyes in shock. He knew that voice. _But...could that be? _He turned around in horror and looked at the other man. His heart missed a beat when he saw his face. There he was, wearing different clothes and a crossbow instead of guns, but _that _face... For a second the Irishman didn't know how to breathe.

"Murph?" he whispered and looked at the man, who was narrowing his eyes.

"What did y'call me?" the man growled and stared back.

In just a matter of seconds Connor was back on his feet. He ignored that his knees were shaking with every step he took, he just needed to close the distance between them. Because this was his _brother_ standing there in front of him. Because his prayers had been heard. He frowned when his twin tried to get out of his reach, but he assumed that this was just because Murphy was mad at him. For leaving him alone in Boston. For not taking him with him. For not waiting for him. He walked even faster because he just wanted to wrap his arms around his twin, but before he even got the chance to touch Murphy the other man struck out and hit him in the face. The Irishman groaned and stumbled backwards, then he fell to the ground with a terrible headache. He could feel how he slowly drifted away, how the darkness was calling him. Connor could hear the other men fighting, how Rick started yelling at his brother, and there was one name they were repeating and yelling over and over again. _Daryl_. But why would they call him that? Connor tried to fight the darkness, but he eventually gave in, welcoming it. "Murph" he murmured once more, trying to reach out for his brother, but there was no one there to take his hand. He smiled tiredly, knowing that he had seen his twin one last time, then everything went black.


End file.
